Before the Storm
by WildSnivy
Summary: The attack on Zeplich took many lives, both Warmblood and Moonblood alike. And two of them are to be forever entwined as the Sen-Mithrarin. This is a prelude to the events leading up to the attack, and the tale of one man's willingness to protect everything he loves. Thanks to Humble Hearts for a downright spectacular game (and the cover) and to you for reading!
1. Ginger

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Prologue

Fidget-

I honestly can't tell whether this letter will find you or not. If it does, then it'll probably raise more questions than it'll answer, like how can I possibly be writing this at this time. That'll probably need a second letter to explain. But then that'd likely confuse you more and...you know what, just go with it. You're good at doing that.

I had to write this to answer a question you asked me in Zeplich Village once. You asked me who I was, and I didn't have an answer. I never really got over that, thinking back on it. Ginger tells me I have her brother's eyes, but all anybody ever sees is this uniform and the awful person who wore it. I've been receiving memory after memory of the horrible things Cassius had done, but I can't convince myself that I had a part in it.

I'm not a bad person, Fidget, and you've known me long enough to know that's true. The problem is, I can't tell if that's me or my other half talking, and the idea that isn't me is frightening. You know me as Dust, but I know that I'm more that just that. I'm a crusader. I'm a murderer. I'm a brother. I'm an assassin. I'm an avenger. I'm a menace.

I'm writing this to prove to myself that I'm not any of those things. I am Dust, but I can't accept that identity without coming to terms with the other two. The memories of the souls within me have been gradually returning, and I think you, of all people, deserve to know what I think.

And you, of all people, deserve an answer to your question. Who I am, and who I was. I certainly hope I can provide that. Share this with Ginger when you're done. I think this would mean as much to her as it does to you.

Also, I'm not sure if nimbats can read. Either you never told me or you did and I forgot. If the answer is no, then you'll probably have to share this with her anyways. If yes, well, now I know. Then again, if you've gotten to this point, it's clearly evident you can, so I guess it's kind of a moot point now.

Whatever the case, this is what happened one year ago, before you met me. Before Ahrah found me. Before any of this came to pass.

What happened before the storm.

* * *

Chapter 1

Ginger

"Jin! Come on, Jin. Wake up!"

I grunt reluctantly from under the covers. My arm feels like it's been replaced with a strand of pasta from the way I had been sleeping on it, and it flops over the side of the bed limply, a feeble sign of acknowledgement to whoever is in my room. "I'm awake," I mumble, halfheartedly trying to get them to leave.

"We both know you aren't," she immediately replies. The voice is definitely a girl's.

I go for a compromise. "Fifteen more minutes? Please?"

"You've wasted enough of your birthday already. Now get out of there!" She playfully thumps me on the back of the head, the weight of the blow cushioned slightly by the comforter engulfing me at the time. Autumn is beginning to rear its head in Zeplich; the nights are already starting to get much more chilly. I must have subconsciously pulled the covers over my head at some point. The blankets have me fully enveloped, from the feet all the way up to and over my eyes, leaving my nose and mouth poking out from underneath the layers.

I finally give in after a defeated sigh and roll onto my back, pushing the covers away from my head and into the air, sending them crashing back down on themselves near the foot of the bed. I peer over to my left, groggily but cheerfully, as I see my sister sitting down next to my nightstand. She seems energized, expectantly but reservedly glad that I had decided to forego any additional sleep. To her right, above her, the morning light floods in from the window, and I cringe posthumously as I unwittingly look directly into it for a second. The skies are clear, despite a little bit of water trickling off of the roof and past the window on its descent. It must have rained last night, or snowed possibly. It would definitely explain why I felt the need to become a Jin-stuffed burrito last night at least.

"Morning, Ginger," I force out as I sit myself up in my bed and stretch my arms behind my head. She pounces onto me and almost tackles me back down onto my back. I barely manage to keep my balance from the surprise attack.

"Happy twenty-first, Jin!" she cheers, a gigantic smile on her face. Even though I'm still a little discombobulated by her ambush, I can't help but grin back at her as I finish my stretches. She finally turns me loose after a few moments and takes a knee back near the nightstand, the sunlight igniting her eyes like sapphire.

I straighten out my sleeping shirt a bit before I say anything back to Ginger. "You're happy to see me," I observe, like it isn't already evident.

"My brother's twenty-one years old now. Why shouldn't I be?" she asks back, ducking behind the bed for something.

I shrug. "I don't know. I've had twenty of these things before, and I don't think I've ever seen you this excited about it."

"Oh, and you aren't?"

"Well, no. I am, but..."

"Then stop being so tired and cranky and start being the Jin that I'm familiar with, okay?" Ginger sweetly retorts, returning back above bed level with a small saucer in her hands. Resting on it is a well-portioned slice of cake, coated in pink and white icing and topped with a small candle. I cautiously but graciously accept it, like one would a package that might have been tampered with, and watch the wick burn away as the flame sits upon it.

I admire the pastry's beauty for a few more moments, then look back up at Ginger. Her eyes seem to be coaxing me to the cake, encouraging me to sample it.

"I'll do that," I respond with an appreciative smile and a laugh. I stare at the candle's fire for another second or two, then shut my eyes and blow it away.

* * *

The first act of my celebration comes to a close, and Ginger takes the dishes downstairs to clean them. I generally don't bother cleaning myself up too much in the morning, so after I allot some time for my teeth and a few extra seconds to get the stray icing off of my face, I go straight to the drawers and get my outfit for the day ready. It's one of those days where I just grab whatever's on the top of the dresser: sea green shirt for the top half, blue cotton pants for the bottom. I glance out the window again, at the dripping water sliding off of the roof, and, surmising that it'll still be a little cold, decide I'll need a jacket. Or rather, _the_ jacket, the only one I have and will ever need. The one that apparently makes me look like a detective according to Ginger, despite my deduction skills being marginal at best. That doesn't mean I don't like it, though, and I slip the brown leather outerwear over my shirt, then stroll past the bathroom mirror to make sure it looks good.

_What am I thinking? Of course it does,_ I chastise myself for not having more trust in my tastes. I straighten the coat up a bit onto my shoulders then exit my room and head down the stairs. One medium length hallway later, I am that the door to the kitchen. Our home is a modest one. The furnishings and architecture are not nearly as flashy or expansive as the estates in Aurora may have been, but for a family of four, there isn't any other spot Ginger and I would like to be. Too many memories live in this house; it had stood here sheltering our family for the last five generations, and I'd like to help it last five more. Zeplich may be located right at the peak of the Blackmoor Mountains, meaning not only cold and windy weather sometimes but some very infrequent and sparse trade routes, but Ginger doesn't mind it at all. And neither do I. Location is a trivial problem next to all the value Ginger and I place on it personally.

Considering I am yet to run into the parents this morning, my best guess is they are out getting the shopping done. Ginger probably went through most of our groceries while she was cooking the cake for me. I get a little sad, since I kind of wanted to be with my parents for today, but it's either wait for them to get back or live in a house that doesn't have any food in it.

I quickly convince myself that the former is much less worse and push the kitchen door open. Ginger probably didn't have any intentions of hiding anything from me, but she surprises me nevertheless. She's still at the sink, working on the cleanup for her baking, but I'm skeptical that she's unaware of the lanky, white-furred vulpine Warmblood sitting at our dining table, and the plain rectangular cardboard box resting in front of him.

He's taken the seat closest to the cooking area, but he springs up from it right away as soon as I walk through the door. "Man o' the 'our!" he exclaims with an accent before audaciously laughing and offering me a friendly handshake. I hesitate for a second before accepting it, and then find myself trapped in yet another breath-pinching lock around my chest. Apparently, in addition to being a burrito last night I somehow magnetized myself to everyone who dared come within five feet of me.

With effort, I put a hand to his back, but not in any attempt to return the gesture. "Nik," I eke out, slapping his back in a weak panic, trying to restore my oxygen intake. "Nik, I'm..."

"Surprised I remembered yer birthday, son?" Nikolai incorrectly finishes for me. I'm not sure if my vision is going dark because I am running out of air or because I think I am. My brain isn't about to tell the difference at this rate.

"Uh, Nik, I think he's suffocating," Ginger points out, in a distressingly unalarmed tone. Then after a sheepish "Whoops," Nikolai releases me, finally permitting me to catch my breath once more.

"Sorry 'bout that, lad," he apologizes, scratching the back of his head as he lets me pant with my hands on my knees for a minute.

I need about three deep breaths before I'm ready to talk again. "What are you doing here, Nik?" I huff.

"Exactly what you think I'm 'ere for!" Nikolai grins, sliding the box off the table and into his hands. "Checkin' in on an old friend, right?"

"And nearly strangling him in the process, eh?" I good-naturedly fire back. I start rubbing my neck for some reason, even though it's nowhere close to where Nikolai was holding me.

"He has a point," Ginger supports me from the kitchen as she finishes dividing the rest of her cake. "I think he's been squeezed enough between the two of us for now."

Nikolai inspects the box with skepticism in response. "Ah, so he's gone fragile since I saw him last?"

That gets my attention. I'm almost certain he's playing with me, but a challenge made as a joke is still a challenge. "I haven't 'gone fragile,'" I argue.

"Yer sure?" Nikolai asks back, lifting the lid of the box just enough for him to peek into it. "'Cause this 'ere's a man's gift, Jin. If you gone soft on me, I can't have you runnin' around with this thing. Way too nasty. Can always sell it off and find you a teddy or somethin'?"

I take the box from him without resistance, grinning as I pass him, and take a seat at the table. "Thank you, Nikolai," I sarcastically say to him as I set the box down in front of me. He rests his arms on the back of the chair next to me, observing me as I slowly work the lid off of the container and peer inside.

The contents hold me speechless for a few moments, as I struggle to find any commentary on what lay inside. I think I can manage a "Wow," at least, but that would not do any justice at all, so I remain silent and completely mystified.

"Told you he'd like it," Nikolai smirks at my sister as I remove the gift from the mess of paper scraps guarding it from inside the box. I can't say I'm surprised at all by the gift; Nikolai is a blacksmith by trade and leisure, designing and crafting blades and armor whenever the time was made available for him. But that doesn't make the short sword I now held in my hands any less glorious. I think I can best describe it as what a knife would want to be when it grows up. The blade is light and maneuverable, giving it a very knifelike feel, but is physically much longer than just another bayonet, at about two feet in length. I take a few practice slashes with it, and watch Ginger cringe as it comes dangerously close to marking the table. I rotate the blade a bit, watching the light bounce off it at various angles, and bring it closer to me to inspect it, holding the cutting edge delicately between my thumb and forefinger.

"This is..." I lose my words again.

"I know what yer tryin' to say, son," Nikolai claps a hand onto my shoulder. "Just take good care o' her, aight? I worked for two weeks on her and it'd be a shame if she went to waste."

I smile gratefully back up at him as I take the accompanying leather sheath out of the box and slip the blade into it. A perfect fit. "I love it," is all I can say. "Never had any practice with it, but I still love it."

"Aight, so let's fix that then," Nikolai proposes, clapping his hands together. "Why don't you come by my shop tomorrow, after lunch? Bring your friend 'ere and I'll show you a few things 'bout swordplay?"

I look up at him enthusiastically. "I'll be there!" I confirm our appointment.

Nikolai grins, then points back at the crumpled paper inside the box. "I'm not the only one thinkin' about you today either," he states as I inspect the box more closely, and notice that not all of the paper inside is for padding. There is a card hiding amongst the brown crumples, and I carefully remove it from the rest of the clutter.

At first, I'm not sure who it's from, but I slowly answer my own question as I turn it open to the scrawled, barely readable print inside. I read it out loud for Ginger as she finishes putting away the leftovers:

_Jin-_

_Here's hoping you have an excellent day. Thank you again for everything your village has done for us. Give my regards to your family and do enjoy your twenty-first year._

"Your friend, Fuse," I finish, then turn to Nikolai as I set the card down next to the box. "And he left this with you, I'm guessing?"

"Aye," Nikolai confirms, his tone a shade darker than it was earlier. "I'd call him crazy for runnin' down to my shop outside our normal meetin' time, but I'd wager he wanted to make sure you got that in time."

Ginger lets out a small giggle as she walks back from the kitchen. "You say that like Fuse doesn't know what he's doing."

"He might be crazy, but at least he knows how not to get caught," I point out, as I stand up from my seat, carrying my newest weapon with me. "Though I'll say he's lucky he hasn't bumped into any MPs yet."

"I'd say we all are," the blacksmith adds on. "Considerin' how much we been helpin' the Moonbloods, it's a near miracle the army hasn't smelled anythin' yet."

"We can only hope they don't," I respond, readying myself to try the sword properly. I lean onto my front foot, flexing the knee. I wrap my right hand around the sword's hilt, and my left at the sheath's opening, using my thumb to push the blade out just slightly.

Nikolai's eyes seem to widen. "You'd best not be gettin' any ideas with that thing, now," he warns. "We're in enough hot water helpin' Fuse's clan out as it is."

I glance up at Ginger as I secure the sheath to my belt. She's leaning on the back of one of the chairs, looking contemptuously in Nikolai's direction. "Nik, you know we wouldn't do anything as crazy as challenge the military like that, right?"

"Just makin' sure, lass," he defensively replies.

I feel like I have to say something about that as well. "We might be traitors, but the least we can do is act like good subjects until someone finds out."

Nikolai sighs a bit in response. "Right," he replies through a reluctant smile. "We're doin' the right thing, we are. Us, yer folks, the whole town."

"If the King wants to sit there on his throne and denounce a race we wouldn't have a quarrel with otherwise, then I don't want to be a part of it," I qualify, as I yank the blade out of its holster and swing it in front of me for a second. It comes to rest, and I place my off hand against the edge, pressing it against the flat side to align it.

Nikolai's confidence seems to be restored slightly; maybe it's the sound of us reaffirming our thoughts, or maybe it's the promise of his work being put to good use. I adjust my grip on the hilt a few times, trying to find the best way to hold the sword. After failing to find something that resounded with me, and mostly out of curiosity, I flip my hand over, grip the sword backwards compared to how I had it earlier, and hold it next to me, the blade pointing behind me. I don't know why, maybe Nikolai could also explain this when I go to visit him tomorrow, but this stance seems much more natural to me. Completely unorthodox, but natural.

The blacksmith doesn't seem to mind this at all, though. "I knew she'd be a good fit for you, son!" he praises, his eyes lit up with excitement at how I stood modeling his newest piece of work.

Ginger's face seems a little more puzzled, however. "Why are you holding the sword like that, Jin?" she asks. "Don't most people have it in front?"

I look down at the blade, at the sparkling steel edge that threatens to cut my pants if it shifts more than two degrees to the right. "I don't know," is my response. "It just feels right."

* * *

It's mid-afternoon, and Ginger and I are walking along one of the dirt trails snaking down the backside of the mountain. The evergreens are still dripping from the rainwater poured onto them last night, but the trail cutting through the forest is mostly dry. So save for the occasional splash of water that would find me or my sister's head, the sunny sky, decently warm temperature and clean, inviting ambiance make for perfect walking weather. Ginger's expression tells me everything I need to know. I had made the suggestion to visit Fuse and thank him in person for the card, and Ginger was more than enthusiastic to make the rest happen. As soon as I scrounge up some spare supplies for his camp and Ginger prepares some trail food and water reservoirs for the journey, we set off right away, in celebration of my birthday and in anticipation of seeing Fuse again.

Only one thing feels offsetting, however. The parents are yet to get back to us. There isn't left a note for me or Ginger telling us where they are, and that would normally make me worried. Fortunately, Ginger had encountered them before she woke me up, and tells me that they are actually on their way to a smaller Moonblood camp near the base of the mountains. My nerves are calmed as I hear this. They're out of town, so of course they wouldn't be back nearly as quickly.

"They're running supplies?" I ask for clarification. "On this short a notice?"

"Fuse did mention some clans to the south were running short on food," Ginger explains. "It's not like the walk there is awful, though."

"We'll probably catch them later tonight," I assure her, readjusting my backpack to fit more comfortably. I'm currently leading the way down the moderately steep grade, and I check on Ginger over my shoulder. "Everything alright back there?"

Ginger's crouched down, shuffling her feet cautiously, taking the more treacherous part of the trail as patiently as she can. "Just fine!" she calls back. "Just a bit of a-ah!" she yells, as some loose gravel sweeps her leg out from under her. She falls onto her back and slides a few feet before coming to a stop on some flatter terrain.

I shouldn't be laughing at someone else's expense, but I can't help but let loose a snicker or two as I jog back to help her up. "Just fine, huh?" I repeat, offering a hand out to her.

"Ha, ha." She immediately grabs me by the wrist and pulls herself to her feet. She's gotten all flustered because of the stumble.

"You know you need me," I continue to jest.

"I can manage just fine by myself, thanks," Ginger returns, dusting herself off and brushing past me on the trail, on a beeline for the Moonblood camp.

"Maybe," I reply, following closely behind her. "But what kind of a brother doesn't watch out for his sister, huh?"

Ginger goes quiet for a second, probably trying to think of a counterpoint. "Fair enough," she replies. I chuckle a little more, glad that I made my point.

I stop it early, however, as she still seems to have something on her mind. She doesn't voice it until the camp comes into sight through the trees.

"Jin?" Ginger turns her head to me.

I look up from the dirt trail. "What's up?"

She obviously opens her mouth to say something, but closes it and turns away again. "Never mind."

I refuse. "Ginger..." I coax.

She goes quiet for another few seconds before she finally opens up. "I...keep thinking about Nikolai. What he said at the house."

"What about it?"

Ginger sighs. "We're committing treason, essentially, because we think this is the right thing to do."

"Because this _is_ the right thing to do," I correct her.

"It's...dangerous, isn't it?"

"It is, yeah," I slowly answer.

Ginger skids to a halt as I say that, and I stop just behind her as well. Her hand is tightly gripping the backpack strap, and I see it tremble slightly, rocking the strap back and forth on her shoulder under the tension. For someone who looked really excited about seeing Fuse a few minutes ago, this is a rather dramatic shift in the mood. She must have been covering it up until now.

"Ginger, what's on your mind?" I demand.

She lets out an audible exhale first. "I just...get the feeling something bad's about to happen, Jin. And I feel like it's going to be because of this." I think I hear her sniffle a bit. "I don't know why I'm just now thinking about this, but..." She can't finish her thought.

A weak smile and comforting words are all I can give her. "We've been doing this for the past year and a half, ever since the King put out that decree," I remind her. "Fuse and the Moonbloods need our help, Ginger. They're as good as dead otherwise."

She seems to put her other hand over her mouth. "I know, I know. I just..." Another incomplete sentence.

I take a step towards her and softly put a hand on her shoulder. She slowly turns back to me, her ocean blue eyes full of fright and uncertainty. I gently put my arms around her, and after a second she shuts her eyes and presses her head against my shoulder.

"If anything, _anything_ happens to us, Ginger," I whisper, crafting my words with care. "I'm always going to be with you. I promise. Alright?"

She rubs her cheek against my jacket, her way of saying she understands. She glances back up at me with those signature, sparkling eyes of hers. Simply glancing at them felt like looking into deep space, a million tiny flashes of light surrounding a breathtaking azure backdrop. I finally have her smiling, and I encouragingly give her one in return.

"Thank you, Jin," she softly replies.

My grin widens, glad to see my sister's feelings alleviated. "Like I said, I'm always watching for you," I restate, then pat her back a couple of times before taking the lead down the path again.

"So, still want to visit Fuse?" I ask, hoping she can answer without words. I take a couple steps forward, and I beam as I hear the soil crack beneath Ginger's feet just behind me.

* * *

A Note From The Author

Hello people, and I hope you've been enjoying the story so far! I intend to put out weekly updates to this as best as I can, so make sure you follow/favorite to keep up to speed!

I kind of wanted to explain my rationale behind writing this. I really wanted to explore the relationship between Ginger and her brother, and I thought a story about their lives and the lead-up to the assault on Zeplich would be a great way to do that. It's a little out of the usual, since most of the stories here involve Dust's reincarnation as a sequel to the game's events, but I think this setting is great for expanding on this concept and really developing an already symbolic character.

Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

WS


	2. The Camp

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 2

The Camp

The Moonblood camp is surrounded on all sides by a lashed together fence made of sharpened tree branches, with watchtowers placed at even intervals along the perimeter. Ginger and I arrive at the main entrance as a new rotation of guards takes over, with the fresh one climbing the improvised ladder to the station, saluting his counterpart, and then readying his weapon as the newly relieved soldier descended. It's not remarkably interesting, I wouldn't say, but it does remind me of one critical detail: that the Moonbloods are people too, much as the King wants us to think they aren't.

The dirt trail comes to an end and places Ginger and me right at the front gates. We'd normally expect at least one or two warriors out front prepared to receive us, but the posts are unusually vacant, and the gate is slightly ajar as well. I glance at my sister with befuddlement, unsure of what to make of it. It doesn't look like she has anything to say about it either.

"Do we just head in?" I ask her. "Maybe the guards are on the other side?"

Ginger thinks on it for a moment. "Is that really a good idea?" she cautiously answers. "You know how he can be..."

"We can explain ourselves if anyone asks," I persuade her, marching towards the crack in the gate. "Besides, is there anyone outside our village who visits them this regularly?"

"Not that I can think of..."

"Let's head in then," I tell her as I officially step onto Moonblood territory, wedging my way through the gap and to the interior of the camp. There's barely enough time for a twig to snap underfoot before a spear jumps up from around the corner and pushes itself just below my chin. Out of instinct, I freeze and put my hands to the side, after I cringe and make a buzzing sound resembling a bumblebee that had overdosed on coffee.

Ginger nonchalantly strolls in from behind me and gives me and the soldier holding the spear one of those smug I-told-you-so kinds of grins. "Thank you for not impaling my brother, Twitch," she singsongingly calls to him as she continues towards the camp's commons.

Twitch sighs and shakes his head, clicking his tongue with disappointment. "Jinny, Jinny, Jinny. What have we told you about knocking first?" His voice is high-pitched, despite his relatively tall size, and the words come out at such a fast rate I start to think I'll need a translator. His tone doesn't sound like he's reprimanding me, though, as much as it sounds like he's enjoying himself, like he just landed a fifteen pound fish or something.

I reach up to push the spear away from anything important before I humor him with a response. Only issue being I don't really have a good excuse for it. "There wasn't anybody out there," I start.

Twitch laughs to himself as he retracts the spear and plants it next to him. "Relax, brother. You don't need to explain yourself. You and your village are always welcome here."

I raise an eyebrow as I'm finally permitted to follow my sister. "Then you want to explain why you almost turned me into a kebab?" I ask Twitch after he signals for his comrade to cover his spot. I'm not upset at Twitch; practical jokes like this are his bread and butter. That doesn't make the question any less valid, however.

The Moonblood peers up at the tip of his spear as he follows me. "You know how boring this thing is to hold and not do anything with it?" he asks back, pointing to his armament.

I follow his eyes up to the point, seeing as how I'm no longer in mortal danger from it, and notice that the actual cutting edges are dulled down to a very not dangerous level. "You should probably get Nikolai to look at that," I advise him.

"I've been meaning to," Twitch agrees. "He doesn't come around as often as you and your sister do, though." His eyebrow raises a bit as he notices the sword sheath on my belt, and he brushes away some of my coat to take a better look at it.

"And speaking of Nikolai..." he begins to say as he admires the blacksmith's newest piece. "That is a very nice sword there. He make that for you?"

I ruffle the coat back over the blade, concealing it once again. "And he's offered me some training tomorrow too." Then an idea sweeps over my head. "You wouldn't know a lot about sword combat, would you Twitch?" _Please say yes, I'd love to shock Nikolai in our first sparring match together._

"Can't say I do," he apologetically answers as he spins his spear onto his shoulders and hangs his arms over the shaft. "Lance is the only thing I'll ever need."

"Even that has to get bland at some point," I hypothesize.

"Brother, when you find the weapon that's right for you, you'll know it," he insists. There he goes using the word "brother" again, even though our bloodlines are about as distant as they can get.

"Kind of like you and that spear, eh?"

"Exactly," Twitch smiles in the direction of the blunted head of his lance. "I don't know, it just...spoke to me."

For some reason I can't take that literally. "It spoke to you?"

"I mean what I say."

"Call me what you will, Twitch, but I don't really believe in talking weapons," I inform him.

"You'd be surprised then," he argues back, peering over at my sister. She's in a merchant's tent, casually examining the fabrics and semi-precious jewelry inside. She's probably stopped out of courtesy, not wanting to visit Fuse without me. Ginger is nice in that sense; form a party with her and she's never going to leave you behind.

"So what does bring you here, Jin?" Twitch inquires as we continue towards the shop in no particular hurry.

I fish around in my pocket for the card and flash it to the guard. "Parents are out on a supply run, and Fuse dropped this off for me. Ginger and I thought we'd say hi."

Twitch face snaps with interest. "Oh right, it's your birthday, isn't it?"

"Twenty-one," I clarify. Instead of jumping onto me like Ginger and Nikolai, Twitch settles on a heavy-handed slap on the back that almost throws me off balance. How he manages to do that with only his lower arm is a mystery I'll probably never solve.

"Grats, brother!" he clamors, with no regards to the stumble or two I take right after. Well, at least it's better than getting strangled by a blacksmith with no perception of his own strength. "Shame your parents aren't here, we'd have set up something special," he notes.

"It's fine," I reply with a small grin. "We all need to do our part, and if they had to run out, they had to run out. We'll think of something later."

My eyes are still on Ginger, but I can tell Twitch seems pleased by that statement. "You probably don't hear this enough, but this means a lot to us. I mean, this goes against everything your King demands and..."

"I don't care what my King says," I cut him off. "I don't abide by unjust laws. Nobody does."

"What I mean is, your village is taking a huge risk by helping us out. And I don't think there's any way for us to properly say thanks."

"No need to," I say as I turn back to him. "That's what friends are for, right?"

There's a sharp whistle behind us right as I finish speaking, before the Moonblood can say anything back, and Twitch takes a quarter turn towards me to see where it came from. His friend from the watch is signaling him to return. "Twitch, that's enough of a break! We need you back to post!"

The guard nods and drops his spear back into his hand. "Right at the first intersection, second tent on the left," he directs me before giving me a friendly wave and jogging off back to his position at the gate. "And tell Fuse I say hi!"

I give him a nod back as he returns to his duties, and head inside the shop to fetch Ginger. I duck into the tent, and my eyes narrow at the shadowy, purple-clad merchant behind the sales table, those two glowing white spheres that apparently pass for eyes blankly observing Ginger as she continues to peruse the shop.

Her eyes light up as she catches a very unique looking pattern and waves me over to see it. "Jin, you really should come by here more often. Some of these look really exotic!" I obey cautiously, like the floor may be riddled with land mines.

"Only the best quality for my two most loyal patrons," the merchant says in a manner that, if this was your first time talking with him, would immediately cause you not to trust him.

"You're trying to chisel off my sister, aren't you?" I bluntly inquire. That guy is probably smirking with delight underneath that hooded cloak, not that I'd have any idea what goes on under there.

"Oh, don't be like that, Jin! Sereth is just trying to run a business," Ginger defends him as she flips over to another swatch of patterned cloth. I know perfectly well that he is, and compared to some of the other merchants around Zeplich I've had the dubious pleasure of trading with, I'd much rather take him over anyone else. His prices are fair and his store is always well-stocked.

But even that doesn't make...whoever Sereth is any less shady, however. At least there isn't ever a dull moment with him, I guess.

"Come now, my friend. You know I wouldn't do anything that underhanded when it comes to my shop," he reassures me, failing to actually do so.

"Why are you so skeptical about him?" Ginger inquires as she crosses to the other side of the store. "I mean, we're friends, right? What's the deal?"

She's right in a way; as far as merchant-customer relations go, ours with Sereth is about as well-developed as they come. But even that isn't going to stop me from getting my points across. "I'll demonstrate," I state as I glance over at the shopkeeper. "Sereth, say 'thank you for your business.'"

"Your transaction is most appreciated," Sereth whispers, tapping his fingers together.

"Who talks like that?" I follow up as I remove my backpack and drop it onto the sales table. I start to rummage around in it as I let Ginger think on that for a second.

Too bad the response came from the wrong mouth. "Well, I do, for one."

"I mean besides you," I clarify as I find my coin pouch and yank it out of the pack.

"Precisely. I'd say that makes me unique," he points out.

And at this point I realize I had made the fatal mistake of trying to win an argument against Sereth. I can't think of anything to say to that, and already Ginger is already starting to crack up at my lack of response.

I nonchalantly try to change the topic and draw my sword out.

"Ooh, shiny," the merchant comments. "That's one of Nikolai's blades too, if I'm not mistaken."

"And I'd like to make it even shinier," I add, setting it down in front of him. "What do you have?"

Sereth ducks underneath his table for a few seconds as Ginger walks up behind me. He eventually pops back up, his hands still empty. "Nothing at my immediate disposal, sadly. But I'm certain I'll find something in the back for you."

"How about we see Fuse while we're waiting, Jin?" Ginger suggests. "I'm sure Sereth can dig up something by the time we get back." It's not a bad idea, truthfully, and I'm always for a plan that takes care of two things at once.

But that of course implies I'm leaving my birthday gift with...him. I shoot him a glance of uncertainty for a moment, while he continues to stare back with those blank white eyes, as I finally point to the sword. "Handle with care," I succinctly order.

"You know that I shall, my friend," Sereth calmly replies as I spill out a small pile of gold pieces. I count out about thirty coins of ten, push them towards the merchant and slide the rest back into the pouch.

"There should be around three hundred there," I tell him as he double checks my work. "You can probably find something on that, right?"

"I believe I can, Jin," Sereth confirms as he accepts my payment. "I'll have it ready straight away."

"Alright then. Thanks, Sereth," I tell him, satisfied. Mysteriousness aside, it's hard to argue with how he does his business. And even if he gives off an untrustworthy air he either doesn't understand or can't control, that doesn't make him any less personable or even friendly.

Ginger is right. I'm glad I know him. All that's left to do is slip my backpack back on and get out the tent before...

"Oh, and before I forget: Your transaction..."

"Let's go, Ginger," I quickly show her out, denying the merchant the pleasure of finishing his closer.

* * *

We follow Twitch's directions exactly, first to the first main intersection of the camp, where the tents parted ways to form two improvised passages, and then to the second tent on the left side of that alley. Ginger is the first to pull back the front flaps and peer inside, but she looks back over to me with slight disappointment after a bit.

I peek into the tent as well, and notice that it's completely empty. Or at least as far as life is concerned. This is obviously where Fuse was now staying; he mentioned having to move to a different part of the camp last time we were here, and that is definitely his armor scattered on the ground of this one. Ginger and I don't know too many Moonbloods that opted for that bright of a silver finish on their armor, even though the full suit looked almost exactly anybody else's in the camp. We're in the right spot, surely, but Fuse himself is nowhere to be found at the moment.

Ginger presumably opens her mouth to ask me for ideas, but she's quickly cut off as a green pillar of flame suddenly jumps out from behind the tent, igniting the air in a boisterous _fwoom_. I flinch and Ginger shudders as we watch the fire climb at least twenty feet into the air before finally dissipating and calming back down.

"Found him," I coolly inform my sister as I begin to walk around the tent. Ginger takes a couple more seconds to recover, but spritely catches up with me as I round the corner to the tent's backside. As expected, Fuse is indeed behind the tent. He had sectioned off a small area using fallen tree branches, and had also constructed what looks like a small training dummy out of more branches, pine needles and some cheap fabric, probably from Sereth's shop. The dummy itself is actually on fire right now, and Ginger and I come around just as Fuse is scrambling for the water pail set against the back wall of his tent.

I look over my shoulder at Ginger, who looks understandably concerned, and I turn back just in time to see Fuse douse his dummy, squelching the green flames attacking it.

"Was that supposed to happen?" I call to him as the smoking effigy finally starts to die down. Miraculously, despite being covered in flames just a moment ago, not only is the dummy still standing but it doesn't even look that burnt either.

Fuse opens his stance to us and smiles with pride. "That couldn't have gone better, my friends," he states as he tosses the pail to the side of the arena.

"Hope this isn't a bad time," Ginger chimes in. That gets a small laugh out of the Moonblood.

"For you two, it never is," he states, slipping his hands into his pants pockets. "So what's the occasion? Apart from the obvious, of course."

He's obviously hinting at my birthday, and I get the feeling that he may already know what we're here for if that's the case. Regardless, I pull the card back out of my pocket to show him. It's gotten a little bent and folded since I first showed it to Twitch, but it's in perfect condition otherwise. "Got your card, and we thought we'd pay you a visit as a thank you."

"I'd certainly hoped you would," Fuse adds as he slides a metal tube off of his lower arm and motions towards his tent.

I start to follow him back to his quarters, but Ginger's attention is still focused primarily on the dummy he had been practicing on until now. "What were you doing, Fuse?" she asks him as she catches up to us.

Fuse pushes the main flap open to show us inside, while spinning the armor piece around using a finger on his free hand. It's rotating fast enough to blur the intimate details, but I do catch what looks like four fiery orange gems imbedded into the underside of the wrist plate, each one feeling almost alive, fully embracing that fierce energy only fire seemed to emulate. It was like they weren't actually gems at all, but...

"Crystallized fire," the Moonblood elaborates as he catches the wrist plate and sets it next to the rest of his armor. He takes a seat on a trunk across from me and Ginger, who have commandeered his bed for sitting purposes.

Ginger seems a little too enthralled by the response to ask the obvious question, so I do it for her. "I had no idea that was a thing," I comment.

"It usually isn't. It's possible, but it's really dangerous if you don't know how to do it right," Fuse replies, leaning against the wall and crossing his legs. He picks the wrist plate back up, in a sort of reverent way this time. "Because of that, they don't come cheap, but those crystals have a virtually limitless supply of fire in them. And I've been doing a little bit of research with them."

Ginger's eyes light up with fascination again. "That's...kind of cool actually," I respond.

"I was doing some trials in the back there before you walked in," the Moonblood explains further. "And it's hard to be upset at the results."

He peers at my belt as I remove my pack and set it down. "On a different topic, I could have sworn Nikolai was making something for you last time I saw him," he notes.

It takes me a moment to figure out what he's talking about. Ginger already seems to be on it though. "It's at Sereth's right now," she tells him. "We just dropped it off for an enhancement or two."

"And how long ago was that?"

"Five minutes?" I guess.

"He works quickly; it's probably done by now," Fuse conjectures. "Wouldn't mind seeing the final result, if you don't have a problem with it."

"Why would I?" I reply as Ginger stands up and reaches for my bag.

"Here, I'll drop the supplies off and then bring it over from the shop," she offers as she slips one strap of her pack off her shoulder, allowing her to carry both of them at once.

I appreciate the courtesy, but still feel like I need to be useful someway. I stand up to help her, reaching a hand out for my pack. "Let me carry some of that, Ginger. It's a little heavy."

She immediately, forcefully points me right back down to where I was seated. I promptly obey, like a dog being yelled at by his master. "It's your day today, Jin. You can start working again once it's over."

I have a list of things to say about that, but Ginger doesn't want to hear any of them. "I'll be gone for ten minutes. If that," she continues. "Just wait here, talk with Fuse, and I'll be back with your sword before you know it."

As a last resort, I peer over at Fuse, hopeful that he might be able to do something. Instead, he just shrugs and says, "You're at the whims of your sister, my friend. There's not much I can do for you."

Defeat. "I just want to help," I grumble. Though I have to admit having Ginger drop off the supplies like this is actually really nice of her.

She grins back at me and Fuse before waving and ducking underneath the front entrance of the tent. I look back over at Fuse, who seems to be listening intently for her footsteps to disappear. He then exchanges a very stern glance with me, and the air seems to get a little bit heavier on my shoulders.

He's not talking, but he's clearly thinking about something. "Fuse? Everything alright?" I ask him.

He's silent for just a moment more, and then sighs before answering. "We're being hunted, Jin," he gravely tells me, rubbing the back of his hands.

This is news for me, and I feel my spine chill slightly as I hear it. I'm aware that the King had cut off all relations with the Moonbloods, practically outlawed any support for them, and pretty much just tried to deny their existence. However, this is the first time I've heard of any offensives against them. Had this just started, and Fuse is trying to warn me?

No, he wouldn't have hesitated if he was. "When did this happen?" I question after a pause.

Fuse dryly swallows. "Two weeks back," he softly replies. "Some of the eastern camps near Everdawn Basin have been torn to shreds, and word is it's coming north. Right at us."

Slowly, I lean forward, resting my arms on my legs. "Why didn't you say anything about this earlier?" I bluntly but level-headedly demand.

"Because, my friend, the last thing your town needs to do right now is worry more than they already are about us." Something feels flimsy about that excuse, but I'm not going to challenge it. Fuse seems to stand by it with dedication; he's yet to take his eyes off of me, or even blink for that matter.

He clears his throat. "So, if it turns out my clan is next on the list, I want you and your sister to deny ever having relationships with us. You weren't sending supplies, you didn't even know we were here."

"You know I'm not going to do that," I swiftly return.

"I take care of my friends, Jin. And that means not putting you in unnecessary danger."

"Don't tell me that, Fuse!" I bark. He doesn't even flinch. "You say you take care of your friends, and so do I. I don't care if we have to fight one war band or the entire Royal Army. We're not leaving you behind."

"Your family takes enough risks as it is. The last thing I'm going to have you do is compound them to this extent."

"We are _not_ abandoning you."

"Jin, please..."

"What would I tell everyone if we did?"

The Moonblood finally blinks.

"If Ginger and I stopped running down here and just disavowed everything we knew about this place, what could we say in our defense?" I repeat.

"That you were following orders," he quietly suggests.

"And let you burn in the process?" I snap back. "Sorry, Fuse. Not happening."

I can hear him breathe out. "You're one stubborn bastard, you know that?"

"We haven't left your clan behind before, and we're sure as hell not starting today."

The tent goes eerily quiet for a moment, until Fuse speaks back up. "Fine," he darkly, almost begrudgingly yields. "But for your sake, and Ginger's, I certainly hope you know what you're getting yourselves into."

I turn my head for a moment as I hear noise from outside. There are footsteps outside the tent, gradually getting louder and louder as each one falls.

I glance back at Fuse. I try to look confident but even then I can't completely hide the uncertainty in my words. "I hope we do too," I whisper as Ginger reenters the tent, my sword in her hands.

* * *

The evening sun soaks the forest in a bath of soft orange light as Ginger and I close back in on the village. Most of the conversation on the way back revolves around the sword and the work Sereth had done on it. From what Ginger had collected, he took a whetstone to it and sharpened up a few of the miniscule imperfections on the blade Nikolai may have missed while he was forging it.

What I don't notice until we're on the trail's final ascent, as I carefully slide my fingers down the blade, is that it feels a little more...slippery than when I tested it back at the house. My hand quickly gets away from me and I almost drop the sword to the ground out of fear of cutting myself. My other hand remains steady on the hilt though, and instead I just slip it back into its housing.

"What was that about?" Ginger asks from behind me. She sounds a little confused as to what just happened.

"Blade's a little slick," I tell her as I straighten up my jacket, like nothing had even happened.

"That's probably the polish Sereth put on it," Ginger explains.

_That's what it was? Really?_ "You sure it's polish and not cooking grease?" I call back to her, slightly disgruntled.

"Well, that's what he said," Ginger shrugs. "He also said it's supposed to lighten the blade a bit. Make it feel less...oh, what was that word he used...?" She puts a finger to her chin contemplatively.

_What would a guy like Sereth say?_ is the question I ask myself. "Cumbersome?" I toss out after a second.

"That was it! Cumbersome," Ginger confirms as she runs up the path to catch me.

"We'll see how it works tomorrow, then," I reply, peering off to the side of the trail. The rooftops of some of the buildings are starting to peek up over the ridge, and I start to pick up my pace out of instinct, accidentally forcing Ginger to hurry herself even more as we approach home once again.

We get to the village's back entrance just as the sun disappears over the horizon, setting fire to the lavender sky as it descends. Ginger and I don't spend too much time taking it in. There would be plenty of time for that once we get back to the house. We quickly walk down the main street towards it. It feels unusually empty tonight. Not that there's ever much traffic on it to begin with, but there's at least one or two people out usually.

Nevertheless, the house comes up on our left, and I preemptively dig the front door key out of my jacket. One quick turn of the lock later, Ginger and I are inside, and we put our packs off to the side of the room, next to the kitchen table, with Ginger using much more care setting hers down than my underhanded toss would ever produce. The parents should be home by this point, but they don't seem to be on the main floor.

Though they were on a supply run today. Maybe they wanted some extra rest tonight. "We're home!" I call out, thinking they're upstairs.

"We spent the day at Fuse's! Sorry we're back late!" Ginger adds on.

We wait a few more seconds. No response. Ginger looks over at me, understandably concerned.

I suppose there's a chance they didn't hear us, and I move over to the stairs. "Mom?" I try yelling again. "Pops?"

Silence. Again.

"Are they...still out?" Ginger inquires, her voice fluctuating slightly.

"Where would they be though?" I ask back, stuffing my hands into my jacket's pockets.

Ginger passes by me, and she looks like she wants to investigate upstairs further. She takes a step up, but then freezes. Both of us look back over at the front door. The sound is a muffled yelling fit, or at least that's my best guess, and my sister follows me back outside.

The yelling is a bit clearer. Still a mumbling mess for all the sense it's making right now, but now I can tell it's coming from down the street, past the house.

Something feels wrong. "Ginger, shut the door and lock it, please."

She nods back and secures the house as I slowly start walking towards the source of the screaming. Each step cleans up the noise a little bit more. Ginger seems to figure it out first, and races past me right to the spot, stopping right in front of the building's front door.

It's Nikolai's shop, a large stone brick building where he practically spent every moment of his life. He'd work on the main floor during the day, and then use the upper floor to eat and sleep at night. As a general rule, you could tell where he was at any time just by looking at the windows; he never liked being in the dark, so he lights torches wherever he goes to keep it away.

Only it's well past his shop's closing time for the day, but he's still on the main floor. And, most obviously, clearly livid with somebody unfortunate enough to be sharing the same room as him. "...don't bloody care! This isn't a safe spot for 'em!"

"The clinic's all out of room, Nikolai. I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to, but..."

"If they're as licked as you say they are, the last thing they need is a place where they're breathin' soot and sweatin' themselves dry!"

"Exactly. Which is why they aren't staying in the furnace."

"What does that...oh, you'd best not be kickin' me out of my house, son."

"Now, Nik, listen to me..."

"No, no it's fine. I, I-I can't even get angry at you now. You've gone and burnt me out."

"Look, I..."

"Shut up! You can take my bedroom, you can take my forge, why don't you take the whole freakin' building while yer at it! If yer so convinced there isn't a better spot for the people ya almost killed tonight!" There's a pause. Then Ginger jumps backwards as the door is literally kicked open, and the frustrated blacksmith marches out. He glares at Ginger and me for a second, and then his expression immediately shifts to something else. It looks almost sorrowful, actually.

"Oh, dammit," he mumbles, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Nik, what just happened?" I demand.

"Why's it gotta be you two?" he continues to grumble under his breath as he walks around to the side of his forge and leans against the brick wall.

I don't want to repeat my question again. Nikolai glances at me for a second, and sighs as he finally gives an answer. "That was...the bloke who pulled yer parents aside for that supply caravan today, yeah?" he quietly, solemnly says, licking his lips. "Nice, big convoy headin' down the south face o' the mountain? Needed 'bout...ten people to escort proper."

"What were you arguing about?" Ginger timidly asks. I continue to stare at Nikolai, not daring to look away from him for a second.

He takes in a deep breath. "Well," he starts, but then clears his throat right after. "The convoy got 'bout two-thirds o' the way to the Moonblood camp. Things were going aight..."

He has to stop to clear his throat again, though this time it sounds more like a sniffle. "'Til the caravan...got jumped," he continues. Ginger shudders as he says that. "Bumped into a Royal scouting party, who knows what they were doin' all the way up 'ere." His words are getting progressively slower and slower.

"There's a fight. There's blood. And next thing I know the convoy comes limpin' back up that hill there," he says, slowly pointing down the street. "Everyone's hurt, and the doc can only handle so many at once at his pad. So that...bastard inside just evicted me and is bent on turnin' my house into an infirmary, even though there has to be better spots to hold it." He sighs again. "Guessin' it's the volume, eh?"

He's still breathing heavily. There's more to his story. I look at Ginger again. We both know what the next question is, but neither of us want to ask it. Instead, the street goes quiet, save for that small wind disturbing only the tiniest branches of the pine trees above.

I swallow nothing and ask it. "Where's..." I can't finish my thought fully. My mind is caught on that first word, and can't bring itself to say the second.

Nikolai slowly turns his head to me and Ginger. The encroaching shadow cast by the sun onto his house kept his visage mostly hidden in the dark, but at this new angle, everything is clear. He'd tried to be calm and steady, but all three of us can tell he's on the verge of losing himself. He licks his lips again, and tries to blink away the tear in his eye.

I think I see Ginger do the same. Both of her hands are covering her mouth. They're shaking.

"I'm so sorry, Jin," Nikolai gasps. "But nobody's seen yer parents. They're likely dead."


	3. New Order

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 3

New Order

I've been lying on my bed now for the past three days. Or that's what it feels like at least. The curtains are shut and I've been more or less alone in my room up to now. Ginger occasionally comes in with a bowl of soup or something like that. It may have been something different; I wouldn't know. I don't speak or even glance at Ginger or her dinner when she comes in, and she doesn't make any efforts either. She may as well be a ghost for all she does while I'm in here. The door quietly squeaks open, there's a soft _clink_ as the ceramic is set on the nightstand, and then the door closes itself again. What feels like a few hours pass, then it creaks once more, and the unsullied bowl is taken away from me to go back downstairs.

The ceiling to my room has taken a beating. The grey rubber ball bounces off of it again and falls into my left hand. I move it to the right, throw it back up, watch it collide and come back down once again. It's the only thing I can be bothered to do. It's the only thing that can serve as even a small distraction.

The parents are dead. Nikolai may have said they were just missing, but they may as well be dead. All the while, as I mindlessly watch the ball go up and down between my hand and the ceiling, I keep thinking about them. There must have been something I could have done. There must have been some way Ginger or I could have gotten them to stay. Talk them out of going with the caravan that day. Have them come with us to see Fuse at the camp. Have them here with us to finish celebrating the day they brought me into Falana...

The ball crashes onto the floor with a heavy _thud_ and rolls away. My arm jumps onto my eyes and I uncontrollably, sharply inhale. I refuse to admit to myself I'm crying. What kind of a brother am I? Ginger has to feel as bad as I do if not more. And all this time she's been so calm, so stoic, so composed. I couldn't let her see me like this. I can't let her see her brother this way. She's now all I have left.

But what else can I do? What else is there to do? I feel my arm get progressively more wet, and I slam it onto my bed. I don't know if I should feel sad, angry or sorrowful. Instead, it's a mishmash of all three, and I despise it.

I let more time pass. I honestly don't care how long I've been in my room, or how long I've been broken down like this. But it's long enough for Ginger to reenter my room. I can only hope she doesn't notice that I finally gave in. The bowl is set down on the nightstand, as expected. I roll over to my side, towards the wall, shut my eyes, waiting for the door to squeak its way shut again.

It never does. Either Ginger didn't close it on her way out this time, or...

"You...should eat," she slowly whispers from behind me.

"Not really hungry at the moment," I mumble after a sigh.

I hear Ginger fold her arms. "Jin..." she starts to say. She pauses, and for a second I think she just gave up and walked away.

"It isn't your fault," she finally states.

"I never said that it was."

"We both know..."

"How would you know what I'm thinking?"

She pauses once more. "I'm your sister, Jin. I know when you're being evasive."

"They didn't have to die, Ginger."

"We couldn't have done anything to help anyways. They volun..."

I snap. "Say that again," I command her, daringly, furiously, in complete disregard to who I was talking to.

Ginger freezes. She doesn't want to repeat herself. Instead I leap off of my bed and pace around her. "You just said we couldn't have done anything, didn't you?"

"Jin, I..."

"You're wrong, Ginger," I angrily talk over her. "There were plenty of ways to stop this. We could have gone with them. You could have talked to them. They could have postponed that caravan for the day after."

"Listen..."

"We were not there for them, and they died the moment they stepped out of the village. They're gone because we decided not to do something, even though they'd be here right now if we did."

"But we didn't!" Ginger yells. I'm within my rights to continue my tirade, but I stop right there. A tear rolls out of her eye and splashes onto the floor.

"We didn't, Jin! You keep talking about what we could have done. What difference does that make now?"

I don't answer.

"You're allowed to feel bad that they're gone. But stop telling yourself you could have done better! Please!" She's already struggling for air. Calmly, she walks back to my bed and sits down on it. I stand where I am, my hands in my pants pockets, my head hung and drooped at the floor.

She lets herself catch her breath before she speaks up again. "This isn't like you. This isn't like you at all."

Again, I don't say anything back.

"You've been stuck in here all week because you think you did something wrong. You don't eat, you don't sleep, you don't even say hi when I try to help you..." Her eyes are still watery. I can't bring myself to move.

She takes another uneven breath. "It's...bad enough that my parents are gone..."

She stops again. I raise my head a bit.

"I...I..."

I finally turn my head slightly to glance at her. Like me, her head is low, and she's hunched over her legs. She slowly lifts her head, her glistening blue eyes glaring at me, serenely but terrifyingly.

"I don't want to lose my brother too!" she yells at me, intensely. Those immaculate eyes leer at me for a few seconds more, then bury themselves into her hands as she softly sobs into them.

"I don't want to be alone," she weeps. Nobody moves. She doesn't move off the edge of the bed, and I don't move from where I've been standing. Apart from Ginger's crying and the muffled bird chirps from outside, there isn't any noise either.

I try to lift my feet once again. They feel heavy, unwilling to move at all.

I refuse to give up. I force my right foot up and swing it to the bed. Then the left.

Two strides later I can now sit down next to my sister. With hesitant comfort, I gently place an arm over her shoulder. Almost reactively she leaps back onto me, throwing her arms around me and pulling me against the side of her head. I feel my shirt grow colder as she clings onto me.

I wrap my second arm around her as well, and softly rest my head on top of hers.

"I'm here, Ginger," I whisper to her. "I'm not breaking our promise."

* * *

I finally fall asleep and wake up the next day. I feel like I should be rested at this point, but I definitely don't feel like it at all. I'm still groggy, my head still feels like it's being weighed down with lead, and as my growling stomach is quick to remind me, I'm still hungry, as much as I wanted to convince myself that I wasn't.

Ginger did her job, though. She's right. I can't stay in my room for the rest of my life. I can't continue to lie down anymore and tell myself that I'm responsible and I could have done better. Because I didn't kill them.

It was the army. What business did they have anyway, sending a scouting party all the way up here, if what Nikolai said was right? Were they really after Fuse's clan? How would they have known? Almost everyone in the village was sympathetic to the Moonbloods in some way. Unless someone was dealing under the table, which isn't completely out of the question considering that this is the Royal Army, then nobody could have had anything to do with this.

Right?

I blink and shake my head. _Too many questions, Jin. You've been through more than enough right now anyways. Focus on what needs to be done first._

My first thought immediately jumps to Ginger. We're on our own now, and whatever the parents left behind can only keep us up for so long. I need to do something about that. The Moonbloods did send our family small cash installments in appreciation for the supplies, but those where nowhere close to a steady income for one person, let alone two or four.

I need to find work. And sooner rather than later. I quickly run through my options. I know the general store near the town square has been looking for help for eons by this point. Maybe I'd finally give in and see what they have for me. There might also be a post at the mayor's office? Probably not, unless it involved me swabbing the floors of the town hall. Not my preferred job...

Inspiration hits. Nikolai. He might not be too keen on the idea of taking on an assistant or even an apprentice, especially on this short notice, but it's practically common knowledge that he's been getting more orders lately than he knows what to do with. Also, it's Nikolai. The family friend and neighbor that had been living down the street for at least a decade if not more. Why would he say no to some to extra help?

He wouldn't. That's the new plan. I get ready to jump off my bed and talk to him about it...

Something's holding me back, pinning me to the bed. I need a second before I realize that Ginger had fallen asleep right behind me as well. She's still holding me, preventing me from me getting up.

I sigh inaudibly as Ginger moans a bit. Where have I seen this before? I can probably inch my way out of her bind if I tried, but I'm almost certain I'd end up waking her in the process.

So instead, I do what any big brother would do in this scenario and use it as an excuse to get some extra sleep in. I haven't had much of it in the past three days, if what Ginger said was right. No harm in getting another half-hour or two. Or three. Or five maybe. Gently, I quit resisting and let my eyes close themselves again.

I sink into that nice pleasant type of sleep I generally don't get to experience outside of the weekends, where you're know you're asleep and are actively enjoying every second of it instead of just watching it blur past. I'm not sure how much of it I actually get, though, because I'm shortly jerked out of it by the crunch of boots under dirt, getting progressively louder and louder outside of my bedroom window.

My eyes reluctantly creak open and I force myself out of Ginger's grasp, unfortunately waking her up in the process. I give her a warm grin as an apology as she sits herself up as well.

"What the heck is going on out there?" I begrudgingly mumble as I work myself onto my feet and half-stumble over to the bedroom window.

Ginger lets out a yawn and stands herself up as I tug back the curtain for the first time this week. And I almost immediately regret doing so. Outside, in the village's main street, is rank upon rank of the Royal Army's soldiers, marching in perfect time with the _brattatat_ of the drum as it proceeded past Nikolai's forge and the house. I peer down the street as best as I can manage from my vantage point, towards the town center. Almost everybody in the village is crammed around the perimeter, prepared to receive the patrol as it stamped its way into town.

I peer back to the company. It's not as large as I initially thought; despite the copious numbers of rows the soldiers were arranged in, the narrow streets kept their widths to about four each. Save for one area, in the center of the blue steel swarm. It was just one man, walking alone in the gap, like he was being escorted by the army. Was he one of them? The rest of his clothes don't look much like a uniform; maybe he has one hiding underneath that black overcoat, which just barely scrapes the ground with each step. Maybe he was one of the convoy that didn't make it back? I can't get a good look at his face, that grey, wide-brimmed hat on his head blocking more than just the sun, so I can't identify him either. He's a complete enigma.

"Jin? What is it?" Ginger inquires from behind me.

I let the curtain fall shut again and walk over to my closet for my jacket. "Royal Army," I reply. "And I think they have something to say to us."

* * *

The square is nothing short of crowded by the time Ginger and I finally get out the door. The patrol is marching towards the far side of the area, likely so they can get the attention of everyone in the village who wasn't outside right now. The man in black is still expressionlessly walking alongside the rest of the soldiers as they proceed across to the front of the pack.

The town has the decency to at least clutter up in small groups so navigating the crowd isn't too much of a hassle. Even from the back, Ginger and I don't have too many problems snaking our way around the small clusters, trying to find a good spot to stand.

I look back up at the patrol. They're starting to center themselves at the square. Likely, whatever they had to say was soon to be discovered.

"Oy! Jin!" a voice yells at me from my left. I glance over. Nikolai is waving at us over the rest of the townspeople. Ginger quickly takes off towards him, and I follow shortly behind once a small cluster of people move past.

He's already chatting with Ginger by the time I arrive, and nods in my direction. "Good ta see you're feelin' better," he remarks. I can't tell whether that was supposed to be a question or not.

"Yeah," I reply with a similar degree of vagueness. "Yeah, I am."

He scratches the back of his head again. "Listen, my shop's always open for you two," he slowly says as he glances back at the patrol. "If you need me ta handle anythin' for you, I'd love ta help."

I clear my throat and get ready for my proposal. "Actually, Nik, if it isn't..."

The soldier on the drum slams onto it again and cuts me off. I promptly shut up and turn my attention back to the patrol.

"We'll pick this up later, aight?" Nikolai suggests under his breath. I raise an eyebrow in acknowledgement as I watch the man in black step forward towards the crowd. The soldiers part for him as he proceeds blankly towards the front of the company.

Again, that hat keeps me from getting a look at his eyes directly, but the way he's turning his head leads me to believe he's surveying us. Scanning us in a way. He's looking for something, it looks like.

He moves his hands behind his back and lets his coat catch the wind a bit. There is indeed a Royal uniform underneath it. Not the general plate and mail that the rest of the soldiers wore, but instead a high-quality cloth uniform. It's a long-sleeved grey shirt underneath a black vest, and clipped to the belt of his pants is a very long, very slender sword sheath.

_So that's what his deal is,_ I say to myself. He isn't just a soldier. He has to be one of the Royal Army's higher-ups. Captain, at the least.

He takes a breath in after a minute and finally speaks up. "People of Zeplich," he addresses us. The air feels ten degrees colder than it just was. Already I don't like him. The words are professional, but the tone feels chilling, almost threatening. I glance over at Ginger. Her eyes have widened slightly, almost fearfully, at the man before us.

"I am Commander Cassius of the Royal Army," he introduces himself. "I'm here at the order of General Gaius; I'm certain you're familiar with him."

He'd be right about that. The General was only the head of the entire Moonblood extermination campaign; there probably isn't a single soul on Falana who hasn't heard his name crop up at some point. His name is practically a swear in this town, and if any conversation about him could be avoided, it was.

Actually, come to think of it, that'd also explain why I already despise Cassius, even after just three and a half sentences. He may as well have been throwing flowers to the crowd for all I care. Just the fact that he's under Gaius' command is enough for me to loathe his very presence.

The commander continues his speech. "It's recently come to my attention that some of your people had..." Pause for effect, I'm guessing. "...a very unfortunate accident a few days ago. We do lament your loss, and our condolences go to the survivors and their families."

"The hell they do," I growl.

"Save it, son," Nikolai soothingly whispers back.

I take a deep breath and follow his advice. I'm listening for Cassius to start talking again, but he's gone silent once more. His head's bowed, almost reverently in a way.

But then he looks back up at the crowd, and I can tell straightaway that wasn't the case. There's nothing mournful about his posture, and that hat has to be blocking probably the iciest stare he can manage right now.

"However," he forcefully states. "There have been...rumors flying about recently that may call the integrity of these individuals, or the ones they were traveling with, into question. That they may have, against the wishes of General Gaius and our great King, been secretly supporting our enemy with supplies and trade routes for a very, very long time without our knowledge."

I feel my fist clench. My parents died that day, and now he feels the need to rub it in like that. My arm feels ready to fly off my body and knock that stupid hat right off of Cassius' head. That'd calm me down. Ginger's hand jumps onto it, making sure that doesn't happen. I peer over to her, and she looks up at me. She nonverbally tells me she understands, even if I don't. Was this anger really getting the better of me?

Cassius' speech moves along regardless. "With this in mind, it is highly probable that the integrity of some of the individuals in this crowd may also have been corrupted by their actions. And these individuals are almost certainly a threat to your village's safety and well-being, and by extension, yours."

_Don't tell me they're thinking of..._

He raises his arms, almost showcasing his troops filed alongside and behind him. "To this end, my company and I have taken it upon ourselves to investigate this matter further, and find and eliminate these persons, these Moonblood sympathizers, before any more harm can come to pass."

I can hear the riot starting to form in my head, the villagers booing and yelling at Cassius, readying their pitchforks and swords and whatever weapons they could find to chase him and his band out of the town once and for all. Everyone knows better than that right now of course, and the square is physically completely silent. But inside everyone's minds, I'm certain they're all shouting in outrage as they get ready to torch every person in an army uniform.

"Mind you, this is not a military occupation. By no means at all," Cassius adds, pacing back and forth in front of the line of soldiers. "We are simply following a lead is all. These people are dangerous to be around. You may have very well been talking to one all this time. We are here to identify these people and ensure that your town is safe from any of their plans."

Nikolai sighs and slips his eyes into his hand. I have to agree with him. The amount of propaganda getting stuffed into this speech is nearly enough to make me sick. Really, who's going to get swayed by what Cassius had to say about our relations with the Moonbloods?

Cassius takes one more scan of the crowd before he moves along. "Thus, we will be spending the next few days with you as we begin to look into this matter further. Please do not be alarmed if we are at your door at any time during our stay. We will ask only a few questions and then be on our way. Like I said, we don't intend to occupy your town."

_Except you already are,_ I mentally retort. He could try spinning this as much as he wanted to; by definition, the town is now occupied by the Royal Army.

"We are only here to serve you," Cassius concludes. His head is turned towards us three, and I swear if that stupid hat wasn't always blocking off his extremities he would be looking right at me. I feel my blood go cold for a moment as I let myself get victimized by his mind games. There's no way he can be staring at me. Absolutely not. There have to be at least fifty other people in the area. Who's to say he isn't looking at them instead?

My mind can't do much more than stew on that thought as Cassius snaps into a salute, left arm straight down to his side, right hand formed into a fist and pressed against his left shoulder. The rest of his entourage does the same as he makes his final remarks.

"We thank you in advance for your cooperation," he states. "And trust us when we say we will get to the bottom of this. You're dismissed." At that, Cassius returns to his at ease position and begins to stride off to the town's outskirts, his escorts timely marching behind him on their way back to their temporary encampment.

The beating of the drum gradually fades into the distance, signaling that they were long gone. The square's crowd doesn't move or disperse at all. Instead, it's just mumbling. Nobody wants to wait until they're in a more private spot to talk about what had just happened.

And Nikolai doesn't either. "You think they're on ta us?" he whispers to me.

"I think he would've said something if they were," I reply. "For all they know, it's just a few of us for now."

I don't even need to look at Ginger to tell she's worried. "The people he was talking about earlier," she says. "He doesn't know about Mom and Dad, does he?"

"I don't know," is all I can answer with. Because I honestly don't. It was smart of him to keep the identities a secret; he didn't want to spook off anybody potentially collaborating with them. He might not have known anything at all.

I keep telling myself these things, but already I'm starting to realize it's just talk. I can't verify anything. Cassius knows everything and nothing, and I'm not sure which one it is. And I'm scared to find out.

Is that what all this all is to Cassius? Just some sort of demented game of cat and mouse? I doubt that's it. Cassius might know what he's doing, but he doesn't look like someone who would take something like this so lightheartedly.

I sigh and turn back to the house, more than ready to shut myself back up in it, unwilling to let Cassius sit on my mind any more than he has to.


	4. Closed Doors

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 4

Closed Doors

The door to our house is knocked upon about an hour later, and Nikolai invites us out to lunch. We decide on the village inn near the town's market, a wide strip of road at least a half-kilometer long, bordered all the way down by stands and shops and mobile merchants, selling everything from hardware to groceries to trade goods to jewelry and everything in between. I may have preferred Sereth's tent when it came to trading, but it's hard to ignore the sheer variety present in town's strip.

The inn sat a little further ahead of the market, a brilliant location for any visitors enticed by the shops, not that far from the town hall or the courtyard either. It was one of the town's most prolific resting areas as a result, and tended to attract a lot of business on a normal day. Though considering everybody in the town was in the square a few moments ago, I like our chances of finding a table.

My stomach inaudibly growls in anticipation. I'm still shocked I somehow managed to go three and a half days without eating. Or really doing anything else for that matter. It'll feel nice to finally get something solid to chew on. I hear Ginger suppressing a laugh as we walk towards the inn.

"What's up with you?" I ask her.

I see her smile for the first time all week. "You really want to eat something, don't you?"

My stomach moans again and I yank my jacket over it. "You didn't hear that," I instruct her, discounting my body's response to her question.

"She didn't have ta!" Nikolai chortles from behind her. "You've been lookin' like that ever since we left yer house."

I raise an eyebrow. "Looking like what?"

Nikolai toothily grins in my direction. "Well, you ever seen a dog when he hears it's time for his dinner?"

I feel my gaze narrow. "I'm not acting anything like that, Nik!" I retort.

The blacksmith almost smugly points down the road in response. "There she is. The Eagle &amp; Avee," he identifies, and then starts snickering as I catch myself quickly walking towards the inn, ahead of both him and Ginger.

_Jeesh, I really _am_ hungry,_ I say to myself. And although it's nice to know that'll be fixed in a moment, I hate it when my body reminds me of its issues like this.

After I tell it to slow down and rejoin my sister and friend, Nikolai peeks the window and examines the inn's interior for a moment. His expression lights up as he catches an empty table, and quickly marches over to the door and heaves it open, inviting me and Ginger inside.

I look around the inn, and notice that many of the tables are surprisingly occupied already. The atmosphere is loud, mostly due to the volume of people inside, and probably as they pick apart Cassius' little speech. Looks like a lot of the people at the hearing had the same idea Nikolai had, and are passing some of the downtime at one of the more popular spots in the town. It's hard to say I blame them; the military has effectively invaded Zeplich, what better way to take the mind off of things than a good sandwich and a few tables for cards?

The bartender is a light-tan lupine Warmblood, with shoulder length brown hair underneath the black bandana swallowing the upper half of her head. She expertly, swiftly finishes mixing a cocktail, pouring in each ingredient with careful speed and finesse, and slides it down the polished wood bar to its recipient. She glances at the three of us out of the corner of her eye and then cheerfully waves at us. "Nikolai! Jin!" she yells to get our attention.

Nikolai returns the gesture conservatively. "Yer not too busy for us, are ya, Marcia?" he calls to her over the clamor.

She smiles as she shakes her head no and points at the window. "There's a booth right over there!" she directs. "Get comfortable, I'll be right with you!"

Nikolai nods and escorts us to the spot, slowly navigating his way around the tables, trying not to disturb anyone any more than he has to. He takes a seat closest to the window, and Ginger follows him on the same side. I decide to be loner and sit across from them.

The blacksmith sighs and slouches back in his seat, following the "get comfortable" command from Marcia to the best of his ability. "This is prob'ly the best idea I'll have today," he smirks with esteem.

"Thanks for inviting us, by the way," Ginger chimes in.

"Not at all," Nikolai says as he turns his head halfway between me and her. "You two've had a bit of a rough patch past few days. I thought I'd help out somehow."

I stare at my abdomen again, making sure it didn't want to say anything before I did. "Sandwich doesn't sound too bad right now," I softly remark.

"You see why I thought this'd be a good spot for ya then, eh?" Nikolai fires back with a grin. He sounds like he had premeditated what I wanted; The Eagle &amp; Avee probably made the best roast beef in Blackmoor, and almost everybody knew it. Marcia made it a house specialty, and since then that sandwich was the most ubiquitously ordered one in the town.

I can't help but appreciatively smile at Nikolai after a second. He might not look like it, but he definitely knows how to get you back on your feet.

"Ah, right!" he exclaims as he sits himself back up in his seat. "You wanted ta talk ta me about somethin' earlier, Jin? Before Cassius jumped in?"

My mind happens to be on that topic exactly. Already he's two for two in the ESP department. "Uh, yeah," I confirm, itching the back of my hand.

"Well, let's hear it then!" Nikolai coaxes. "What's on yer mind?"

I hesitantly clear my throat and look back up at him. "Well, with the parents gone, Ginger and I don't really have much in the way of income, and we're going to need a way to..." Why am I getting so worked up over asking this again? The worst he's going to do is say no, and if he did, it isn't catastrophic. I'd just need to brush up on my janitorial skills, much as I want to avoid wasting time on that.

"Yer lookin' for work?" he asks.

I nod. "And if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I was hoping you could help out with that," I slowly add.

Nikolai shoots another grin my way. "Why wouldn't I?" he responds. "The forge can always use another hand or two, if yer interested."

I don't think I could have accepted that offer any quicker. "Yes, sir! Absolutely!" I exuberantly yell.

Nikolai raises an eyebrow back. Ginger just blinks. "Sir?" she skeptically repeats.

"That's certainly a step up for me, eh?" the blacksmith playfully glances over at Ginger.

Haphazardly, I try to justify my words. "Well, he's technically my boss now, right? I don't think I can really call him by name in the professional sense."

Nikolai rests an elbow on the table and his head on his fist. "Jin, I'm not yer boss, aight? Just a good friend helpin' out someone in need. Nothin' more or less."

He reaches his other hand across the table. "But, if you'd like the work..."

He finally gets a smile out of me. "I'll gladly take it," I confirm as we shake hands and cement the agreement, and my mind clears up right away as one of my major issues is resolved. I have a job now. It might be temporary but at least it's a job. And at least it'll keep me and Ginger on steady ground until I can find something more stable. Not saying that Nikolai's forge wasn't, of course, but the less I had to indispose him, the better. I'll just work with him until either Ginger can find something or I see a better position. He shouldn't have any problems with that, and if his expression is anything to go by, it doesn't look like he would either.

Nikolai peers back over at my sister as well. "And if you need anythin' from me too, Miss Ginger..."

She catches Marcia quickly walking towards us holding a large black tray with our lunch resting on it. "I think this will be alright for now, Nik," she tells him as the innkeeper sets the tray down on the adjacent table and starts distributing the famed roast beef sandwiches between the three of us.

"Sorry for the wait," Marcia states as she slides the first two plates towards Nikolai and Ginger. "I don't think I've ever had a rush quite this crazy before."

"Nothin' ta worry 'bout," Nikolai replies as he tugs one of the paper napkins over to himself and places it on his lap. "That hearin' outside messed with everyone's timin's."

"Is that what was going on?" Marcia asks as she drops off my sandwich. There's at least a quarter-pound of meat between the elongated roll, and the melted cheese is still bubbling a bit and dripping off one of the ends. It's beautiful, or at least by my standards.

Ginger peers up at her incredulously. "Were you really not there, Marcia?"

Marcia holds the tray in front of her with both hands, like she possibly might need it as an improvised shield. "I couldn't really leave the inn unattended, and I wasn't really sure what was going on outside. So I picked the lesser of two evils." Credit where it's due; Marcia lived and died by her inn's call of duty. Zeplich could be in the middle of a volcanic eruption and I'm all but sure Marcia would still be in The Eagle &amp; Avee selling lemonade and ash-proofed umbrellas.

"So what all did I miss?" she asks as she drops off her serving tray onto the table next to ours.

I ask the obvious question, seeing as how she seems to be the only one working tables at the moment. "You don't have other people you should be waiting on?"

She turns to the open kitchen door in response. "Hey, Roscoe!" she yells into the door over the rabble of customers. "Can you cover me for a minute?"

"You got it, Marce!" comes the relatively soft reply as Marcia's younger cousin scampers out the door and dashes behind the bar. I inch myself along the booth's seat to make room for Marcia, and she slides in right after me.

"Never seen it this busy after a town meeting before," she notes as she looks back out over the sea of customers.

"Well there's a lot for them to chew on right now," I say as I take the inaugural bite out of my sandwich. I peer back down at it for a moment and then back at Marcia. "No pun intended."

I see Marcia give a small grin before it dissolves back to a neutrally concerned expression. "Seriously, what happened?" she demands again.

"Royal Army's 'ere," Nikolai huffs as he dashes some pepper onto the sandwich's filling. "It's apparently in response ta..."

Nikolai halted that sentence right where it stood, and I can see him struggling to find the right words to finish it with. "...that little mishap with the scoutin' party," he finishes, almost shamefully.

Marcia doesn't say much back either. She knows what Nikolai wanted to avoid saying. Ginger glances at me, and it takes me a second to pick up on what she wants to know. I give her a slight nod and a reluctant grin.

"It's okay to talk about it," she says as she tugs the pepper shaker out of Nikolai's grasp. "We don't mind it."

"Yer sure?"

"We've done our share of mourning, to be honest," I reply, approvingly glancing at Ginger from my peripherals. "It's relevant anyways, so why not be open about it?"

Nikolai still looks uncertain, but accepts my judgment anyways. "Aye, fair enough," he concedes as he bites into his lunch.

Marcia looks between the three of us, expectantly, until Ginger realizes we never fully answered her question. "They think we're hiding something," she elaborates, keeping her voice down to a barely audible level.

The innkeeper scoffs a bit. "Mostly because we are," she replies. "Do they know anything?"

"No, but they're on pretty high alert," I answer. "They said they'd be patrolling the town and..." I clear my throat as I get ready to mimic Cassius. "'Eliminate the Moonblood sympathizers infesting our town.'"

"Jin!" my sister chastises.

"What? Did I say that wrong?" I jokingly reply.

"This is serious!" she hisses. "What if they find Fuse and the camp?"

The mood immediately dies. The roast beef in my mouth goes tasteless. My brain freezes. That thought actually never crossed my mind. Cassius never said that the patrols were going to be restricted to the town limits. They may very well bump into Fuse's camp, even accidentally, at some point. And they'd be completely surprised. At least as far as I know, nobody tried to run to the camp and let them know the Royal Army was here.

"Fuse...doesn't know what's going on right now, does he?" I shakily ask the other three at the table.

Nikolai gives Marcia a look like he's deferring the question to her. "Not that I know of," is his response.

"Nobody's gotten back to me either," Marcia adds, then shrugs indifferently. "It's fine. If he doesn't know now, he should by tonight."

Ginger swallows her bite before speaking back up. "Why's that?"

"Roscoe and I have a stockpile in the back we plan to run down there at some point," she elaborates as she points a thumb at her cousin. "Just some extra foodstuffs from a catering event yesterday."

Nikolai puts his napkin to his mouth. "And yer gonna try it with the military 'bout?"

"We'll just wait for it to go dark and sneak around them. Nothing we haven't done before, right?" she replies.

The blacksmith opens his mouth to protest again, but doesn't get too far before the door to the inn swings open again. The entire uproar of the day's lunch hour abruptly skids to a stone cold silence, almost without warning or prompt. Marcia turns her head over her shoulder and peeks past the edge of the seat. Nikolai and I have to stand up to see the new visitors, but both of us sit right back down once we catch sight of the polished blue steel uniforms, and the oversized hat of the man they are escorting.

Marcia quickly turns back away and just stares at the table. Her face might not be showing it, but she's definitely scared. It's probably safe to say we all are at this point. Ginger sets her sandwich down and moves a bit closer to Nikolai, further away from Cassius and his cronies.

"Good afternoon," the commander shouts to the inn's clientele. "Is the inn's owner available?"

I can tell Marcia doesn't want to talk to him right now. She continues to stare blankly at the table, refusing to acknowledge him, much like everyone else at the inn at present.

"Is he out on business?" Cassius asks again, with just a hint of annoyance in his tone.

The innkeeper shuts her eyes, and takes a deep breath in and out. Slowly, shakily, she raises her hand off to the side of the table, conceding her position to Cassius' men. "I'm over here," she quietly states. "Sir."

I guess Cassius needed a second to see who was talking, but his men march right over to our table as soon as he sees Marcia's arm. I try not to look at him more than I need to. Ginger diverts her eyes as well.

Cassius looks around the restaurant a little bit before he says anything more. "Might I say you take great care of this place," he remarks, as if that'll make him any more likable.

Marcia slowly nods in acknowledgement. "Thank you for your opinion, sir," she rigidly responds.

"Please, relax. No need to be nervous, Miss...?" Cassius politely requests her name. He speaks softly, but that doesn't seem to remove that cold edge from his words, that sharp feeling of dread that walled him away from sounding anything but sinister.

Marcia clears her throat and calms herself as much as she can. I still feel her foot rapidly pounding the floor next to me. "Marcia, sir," she quietly introduces herself. "My name is Marcia."

The commander tugs his hat a bit more over his eyes. "Very nice. And you can call me Cassius," he invites, though almost everyone at the table knows Marcia is never going to.

Cassius surveys the inn once again. "I was going to ask if you could answer some questions for us, but it appears you may be a little busy at present," he observes, with a small amount of disdain in his voice.

"Just the afternoon lunch rush, sir," Marcia chokes out, like she's trying to hurry the conversation along and get Cassius out the door.

"So I see," Cassius replies, turning back to the innkeeper. "Then on that note, would it be too much trouble if we came by later today?"

Marcia clears her throat. "Not at all, sir," she says.

"Will you be here at around, say, seven tonight?"

I think I see her eyes widen. I can tell she wants to say no. But she doesn't have much of a choice. "Seven will be just fine," she hesitantly responds. "Sir."

"Excellent," Cassius confirms, still maintaining that neutral expression he walked into town with. "And perhaps I'll bring my platoon in as well. I've heard many good things about this place."

"I'll try not to disappoint," Marcia forces through a reluctant smile.

"I'm certain you won't," Cassius blank-facedly assures as he turns to the inn's front door. "Good day, Miss Marcia. Our camp is on the northern face of the mountain, if you require anything else."

He tips his hat towards the innkeeper and casually proceeds out the door, his two bodyguards following shortly behind him and slamming the door on their way out. The inn remains completely quiet for a few seconds, until Marcia yells, "They're gone, people! You can start talking again."

The familiar clamor wastes no time in refilling the room, as Marcia sighs with exasperation and pushes her bandana back on her head. "Well, that's my plan completely gone," she grumbles.

"Ah, c'mon. Yer just a bit tied up is all," Nikolai optimistically replies as he returns to his sandwich. "Fuse'll get it if yer a little behind..."

"The army's in the way," I immediately point out.

Nikolai blinks. "How's that?"

"They set themselves up on the northern face of the mountain, Nik," I talk him through the problem. "So, geographically, what two spots does that put them between?"

Nikolai slowly puts his sandwich back down and rests his head on his thumbs, the rest of his hands hiding his face from the nose down. "Never mind," he replies.

Ginger looks back over at Marcia. "What happens to the supplies then?"

"Never mind the supplies, Ginger. What about just basic communication?" I add. "Fuse doesn't know that the army's here, and we can't tell him because they've cut us off."

"That's just sneaky, that is," Nikolai mumbles.

I see Ginger twitch violently for a split second. "Jin, you don't think..."

I'm actually not sure what she's concerned about this time; the answer could hypothetically be anything. Instead, I wait for her to finish her question.

"You don't think they already know about the camp, do you?"

I take a moment to think on that before responding. My only gripe being I don't have a more definite answer than, "I'm not sure."

Ginger blinks confusedly, and I try to explain. "I mean, yeah, it's really inconvenient that they put themselves between us and the camp, but that might have been just by accident. Plus, from what Cassius said, I think they just know there's Moonbloods in the vicinity."

"But they don't know exactly where yet," Ginger finishes.

I nod. "So if that's the case, and they don't know where they've put themselves..."

My surroundings immediately go silent, and my thoughts take over all the noise in their stead. I might have just solved the problem Cassius' squad now presented. I think Ginger tries getting my attention a few times, but she's drowned out by the machinations, the particulars of a new plan as they click into place. Cassius thinks he has us all pinned down by the occupation. He's probably going to revise that thought in a minute.

"Jin?" Ginger finally breaks through. "Are you okay?"

Instead of answering that question, I turn right back to Nikolai, and apologetically smile at him. "Nik, on second thought, I might have to turn your offer down."

He glares at me and lowers his hands, revealing a mischievous smile, like he knows exactly what I'm about to say next. "And why's that?"

I glance over at Marcia, who looks the most concerned out of our party, save for Ginger. "I think I see a new business opportunity," I respond.

* * *

The main hallway's clock tells me it's five thirty-eight as I sling my backpack over my shoulder and say goodbye to Ginger.

"You better be back for dinner," she commands as I start unlocking the front door.

"It's meatball sub night, right?" I reply as the bolt retracts. "I wouldn't think about missing it."

She sighs. "Just...be safe, okay?"

I'm about to turn the handle and get on my way, but instead I first turn to my sister and give a gentle, encouraging hug. "I'll be just fine. If things go bad, I'll come right back."

She smiles up at me and then reaches behind me to push the door open. I shudder a bit as the blast of chilled air springs onto my back.

"Tell Fuse I helped a little bit too," she tells me as I turn back to get on my way.

I look back at her over my shoulder and smile at her warmly. "I'll make sure he knows," I say as I proceed out down the house path. Ginger softly shuts the door behind me, and I turn right onto the main street, towards the trail between Zeplich and Fuse's camp.

Intermittent patrols of army soldiers pass by in sets of two or three. Sometimes they're walking alongside the townsfolk; sometimes they're standing between two buildings watching the ebb and flow of the foot traffic. I peer inside one of the town taverns' windows and see an entire division thoroughly enjoying their evening to the proprietor's reluctant pleasure.

_Is this what the cities close to the palace are like?_ I'd assume yes. If we weren't at odds with the King and the Royal Army, then I'm not sure if we would have minded the army being among us. They seem to fit in alright, even if they are currently trying to expose what we've been up to.

But it's the man they serve I'm more worried about. And why I am so nervous as I turn onto the path leading downhill to the camp. All Cassius needs is for someone, doesn't matter who, to make one mistake. The moment he realizes something's wrong, he's going to do everything he can to capitalize on it and drag us down with it. That indifferent speaking voice, that scarily composed way he acted, those were his weapons of choice. He's waiting, and he's confident he's going to get his opportunity soon.

I pivot down one of the trail's switchbacks, and stop for a moment as I catch sight of a blue cloth tent peeking up from just behind a ridge. That must be the camp Cassius mentioned. The checkpoint. The obstacle. There would probably be a few guards waiting for me somewhere along the path. I can't say what I should expect.

Nevertheless, I need to get past it. I take a deep breath to kill my nervousness, and proceed.

I walk for a little bit longer, and the outpost finally comes into full view on my right side. Plenty of tents have been pitched to house Cassius' men, along with one much larger one, likely the eating area or assembly, and just to the side of it, a medium-sized ornate tent. That'd be where Cassius lives, I assume.

"Hold for the watch!" a soldier barks from in front of me. I rip my attention from the encampment and back to the trail, where two lance-toting soldiers are steadily approaching.

_This is it._ I remove my backpack and hold it in front of me as the guards finish walking up. "Evening, gentlemen," I greet.

"What brings you all the way out here?" the guard on my left demands.

_Well, they're fun._ At least I get a small wave out of the one on my right. "Just out on a hike," I explain, pointing to my pack. "I like to eat my dinner out here sometimes. Helps clear the mind."

"I can sympathize," the right guard scoffs as he tosses his lance to his non-dominant hand. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, sir, just to make sure..." he kindly begins to say, motioning at my backpack.

I delay my reaction a bit, then hand him the pack. "Oh. Yeah, go right ahead," I say as he pulls open the main compartment. I know exactly what he sees: two granola bars, a bag with mixed berries and nuts, and a cheese sandwich wrapped in brown butcher's paper. All laid out in an orderly arrangement perfectly covering the upper part of the bag.

"That's a pretty big bag, for someone just out for dinner," the left guard notes.

I thought that'd be mentioned. "Only one I have. I thought I'd get my raincoat and some warm clothes in there as well. You know, be prepared."

The left guard continues to inspect it just long enough for him to lose interest, then nods to his compatriot. The right one seals the backpack off again and returns it.

"Enjoy your night, sir," he approves as I flip the bag onto my back once more. "If you see any Moonbloods or anything suspicious, get back to us as quick as you can, alright?"

"Will do," I comply, and the soldiers move off to the side of the trail, permitting me to continue onward. I fixate onto the trail in front of me, not letting my eyes wander behind me for any reason at all for at least a few hundred feet.

Carefully, I check over my shoulder for the encampment. It's disappeared back over the ridge, and I let out a relieved sigh. I'm clear, and I pick up the pace, speeding towards the camp as quickly as I can. No need in delaying this any longer than I have to, now that I know where Cassius' men are stationed.

A minute or two of running blurs past, and I finally arrive at the camp's improvised wooden gates. As expected, they're shut as dusk slowly creeps its way onto the mountain. But there should be someone on the other side.

"Twitch! It's Jin!" I call out. "You over there?"

No response. Or at least not immediately. "Twitch?" I call for him again.

I hear a yawn. "Comin'," the guard exhaustedly yells, and a few seconds later the gate grinds its way open. Twitch is sleepily leaning against the inside, looking a little disgruntled in addition.

"Were you sleeping on watch again?" I ask him as I pass him and enter the camp's grounds.

"Don't blame me, brother," he defends as he props his spear against himself and stretches his right arm out. "Boring jobs get boring when there's nothing to do."

He takes a look around me as well. "What are you up to anyways? And where's your sister?"

"She's getting dinner ready," I reply, ignoring the fact that I only addressed half of Twitch's questions. "You know where Fuse is?"

"Uh, yeah, I think I saw him at Sereth's. Why?"

I turn towards Sereth's tent just down the main road. "You'll find out in a second. Thanks, Twitch!"

"Why can't I just follow you and see for myself?" he calls after me.

"Because you're on guard duty," I reply, still facing Sereth's. "And don't fall asleep this time!"

I'm certain that wasn't going to happen, but oh well. I have more important things to take care of. I pull back the flap to Sereth's tent and enter, and just like Twitch said, the merchant is leaned on his transaction table, casually talking to Fuse. I slip my backpack off one more time and wave to the two, letting them know I was here.

"Ah, hello again, Jin," Sereth enigmatically greets me. "It is good to see you again."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "You missed me that much, huh?"

Fuse looks down at the carpets on the ground. "We heard about your parents, Jin," he quietly elaborates. "They were really, really good people."

"How did you...?"

"Marcia came by the day right after the attack," Sereth explains. "We held a small memorial in their name."

Silently, I nod back at him. "It's...okay, guys. Ginger and I have been doing alright by ourselves. And we're not about to stop helping you either."

Fuse forces up a small, sorrowful smile in response. "That's good to hear," he slowly states. "We'll do them proud, Jin."

"That's exactly what I'm here for," I reply as I gently set my pack onto the merchant's table.

Sereth's eyes ignite with the promise of trade. "You're here for business?" he asks, kindly but darkly. "We're actually expecting Marcia in a few moments, so maybe we can wait until she arrives?"

"She's not coming," I inform him.

Fuse looks at me curiously, defensively. "Did something happen to her?"

"I'll explain in a second," I state as I open up my backpack and clear off the top layer of items, the nuts, the granola, the butcher paper. I motion for the two Moonbloods to look inside. "First off, is this what you needed?"

Fuse peers inside first, and looks shocked by the pack's contents. Sereth also ventures a peek, and his reaction is more controlled. Expected, but still well controlled.

"Those are the foodstuffs, aren't they?" Fuse asks for confirmation.

"That's certainly what they appear like," Sereth chimes in.

Fuse looks back at me, still shocked by what I had just smuggled past the army. "Jin, how did you do this? Does Marcia know what's going on?"

I scratch the back of my head. "Well, it's kind of a long story," I admit.

Fuse shrugs and hops up onto Sereth's table as the merchant tugs the bag off of it and puts it to the side. "Better start telling it then," he encourages.

"Yes, indeed," Sereth agrees, rubbing his hands together. "What has happened since the last time we saw each other?"


	5. A Strong Interest

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 5

A Strong Interest

"...so Marcia's probably still sitting at her inn waiting for Cassius to show up, and I had to smuggle these foodstuffs past the army's camp on her behalf."

Sereth leans his head on his fists. "Are they aware of our dealings, by chance?" The way he intonates that question is nothing new, but the fact that he's even asking it tells me he's worried. No amount of shade from that hooded cloak of his would hide that.

I take a deep breath in. "They shouldn't be, no," I reply. "I managed to lie my way past the checkpoint, but I'm not sure how frequently I can come here before they start thinking something's up."

Fuse rolls his arm over a few times, inspecting the fire-infused gauntlet he showed me and Ginger before. "That's a really convenient spot for them to put their camp, Jin," he grumbles, then leers up at me. It doesn't feel malicious, but I can tell he wants to do something about this. "How confident are you they don't know where we are?"

I'm not. But I answer anyways. "I haven't seen them send out any scouts yet. It looks like they're focusing primarily on the village anyways. Besides, it looks like they only know you're somewhere close."

I hear Fuse let out a heavy exhale. "They haven't sent scouts yet, but they're going to soon," he predicts. "I'll get the guards on double shifts, keep an eye for them."

"Twitch isn't going to like that," I respond, trying to ease the mood a bit.

Fuse isn't moved much. "What else do you know?" he demands. "About Cassius? Why's he here?"

"Cassius is apparently an underling for General Gaius. Not sure if I mentioned that yet."

I'm actually sure that I didn't. And if Fuse hadn't asked for more details I likely would have kept that little snippet to myself. Instead, he just paces over to the other side of Sereth's table and crosses his arms. "It's him again, then?"

"You asked me why he was here," I defend.

"This might become slightly problematic," Sereth whispers.

Fuse glares at the merchant. "Slightly, Sereth? I think this is a little bigger than that."

"I don't like to speculate on how bad something _can_ go until it does."

The warrior huffs and turns back to me. "Jin, if this is one of Gaius' battalions, they're not going to leave you or us alone until they find out what we're up to."

"The least we can do then is stall them," I counter. "Make them think they're wasting their time while they investigate." Even I'm uncertain about that plan. There are too many variables. I could trust Nikolai and Marcia to play it safe and not spout anything that could doom the town, but there's always somebody. And the instant Cassius found a contradiction...

My brain feels like it's on the verge of overheating, until Sereth speaks up again. "I think it may be wise for you to visit us as infrequently as you can. At least until Cassius decides to give up."

I watch Fuse nod slightly in agreement. "If you're going to dodge the army's camp every time you come down here, they're going to notice a pattern at some point."

"It doesn't have to be me, you know," I point out.

"Even then, we can't risk them seeing you, Ginger or anyone else in the same room as us."

I go silent. I know exactly where this conversation is going, and I refuse to contribute to it.

"Jin, I know what you're going to say," Fuse adds. "But until this blows over, you're going to have to leave us alone for a bit. The less suspicion you're prone to drawing, the better our odds are of watching Cassius bail out."

I'd argue back. I'd love to argue back. But I can't. This would be like arguing two and two add to five. I think back on that checkpoint, about the two guards that pulled me over. About how thorough that search of my pack was. What would have happened if they got curious then? If they decided to scrape off the first layer of food I was hiding the supplies under?

We would have lost right then and there. Unconditionally. I start getting that gut wrenching feeling, that sickening pressure in my abdomen, only compounding with time as I continue to think about exactly how close I came to messing everything up.

Fuse has me. I'm loathe to leave his clan like this, especially if they might be in need of more supplies later on. But the road between Zeplich and here is too dangerous now. If Cassius was going to catch us red-handed, then this would be the spot to do it.

We cannot give him that opportunity. My head feels heavy again, like there's a weight sitting on top of it, but I force myself to look back up at Fuse and Sereth and reply. "Fine," I quietly, begrudgingly concede. "I understand."

* * *

My stomach still feels sick as I start to trek back to the village. Sereth had loaded my backpack up with a few bolts of cloth to roughly match the shape and mass of my pack when I first passed the army checkpoint. With any luck, they won't notice anything off about it, at least not from the outside.

Again, the tent spires of the encampment poke up from over the ridge. I should be worried about getting past the checkpoint again, but my mind still refuses to let go of Fuse and the clan. I can keep telling myself Fuse knows what he's doing, that he wouldn't demand we cut back our visits unless he knew he'd be alright. I have every reason to believe him. Fuse is an amazing leader, and an even better friend.

So why am I having so many problems leaving him alone like this? Was he really that afraid of the army and what they could do?

Was I afraid of them? _No,_ I yell at myself. _Absolutely not._ They might be occupying our town and interrogating everyone who dares look at them strangely, but I refuse to believe they can do anything to hurt us. The Royal Army's grunts would be easy enough to lie to; they wouldn't have nearly as much information as their commander would. And Cassius only looks threatening from what he's shown me. So far, I'm skeptical he's noticed anything that would help further his investigation. All Marcia has to do tonight is calm down and just play around his questions. If she does that, then Cassius should leave her alone and we're one step closer to kicking him out.

I stop walking for a second to shut my eyes and breathe in. My gut is still wavering on whether it wants to cooperate with the rest of my body, but at least that pressure on my head is clearing up. It's a start. I open my eyes back up and see the checkpoint up ahead, and it looks like it's being manned by the same two guards from earlier. For some reason that calms me down even more.

I pick up the pace and march towards the two guards. I just want to go home. Sit down with Ginger and a meatball sandwich and just be done for the day. And she's going to be glad that little run went off without too many problems. Plus we'd be getting a decent payment from Marcia come tomorrow. It's technically tainted gold, seeing as how I'll be getting it for a smuggling job, but I don't care. I'm pretty sure the parents wouldn't have minded it either. It's pretty much the family business by this point.

The guard on the right side of the trail is the first to see me, and I bring myself to a stop. "Hold for the...oh, it's just you again," he sighs, like he's not all that pleased to see me returning back to the town.

"How was your walk?" the second one inquires.

I take a second to find the right word. For fun, I put myself in Sereth's shoes for a second.

"Rejuvenating," is my reply.

The guards don't seem to have an immediate response prepared for that one, and it takes them a second to get their thoughts back together. "Any signs of activity while you were out?" the right one asks.

"Nothing to report, no," I answer, making sure I didn't respond too quickly.

"Good," the left one nods and turns up the path. "Off you go then. Let us know if anything happens."

"Right," I affirm as I restart my trek back to Zeplich. The soldiers seem friendly enough towards me now, and I feel confident to check over my shoulder to make sure I'm out of their sight even if I might not be. But I don't, and instead just continue pressing on back to the village.

I'm not sure why I'm in such a hurry to get back to Ginger. Maybe there's just been too much going on today for me to feel fully relaxed. Between Cassius' storming into town, my offering to transport Marcia's supplies, and Fuse's recommending we stay low profile, I am completely spent. Burnt out, if I could steal Nikolai's words.

The village eventually peeks over the peak of the mountain. Shafts of sunlight break through the spaces between buildings, casting a red tint onto the town as the sun vanishes behind a few clouds. I finish climbing the path and enter back onto the main road. There's still some business being conducted here and there at a few stands, but with the evening fast approaching, I can tell almost everyone is prepared to call it soon.

As am I. Two more minutes of walking down the street puts me back in front of my house. My home. I sigh to myself, satisfied my work is done for now, and push the door open. "Hey, Ginger! I'm..."

I go quiet as I identify the two guests in our house. They are seated at the kitchen table with Ginger, who looks exactly like Marcia did just this afternoon: traumatized with fear. Her eyes are glued on Cassius' face, which he has decided to fully unveil this time. The black hat hiding his extremities is sitting on the table, off to his side closest to the second soldier. To my slight surprise, his visage isn't as intense as I had thought. His eyes are sharp, but soft, almost blank in a way, as they slowly drift off to his right, past the soldier sitting across from Ginger and towards me.

I slowly slide my backpack off and kick the door shut behind me. I'm not happy to see him, but I try to hide that as much as I can for now.

"And you must be the brother," Cassius deduces as I slowly cross into the kitchen area, not taking my eyes off of the commander or his associate. At least they had the courtesy of leaving a chair next to Ginger open for me, and as soon as I'm fully in the room I waste no time grabbing it for myself and sitting down. I look over at Ginger again. I'm hoping she's more at ease, but for some reason she only looks more worried now.

Cassius waits for me to respond, but continues once he realizes I'm never going to give him one. "You'll forgive the intrusion. Our appointment with Marcia isn't for another twenty minutes, so we thought it best to go ahead and...check you off our list, so to speak."

"What do you want from us?" I growl. I feel Ginger boot me in the shin from under the table, scowling off to my side. She could get on me about my manners as much as she wants to; it won't change the fact that I still want Cassius out of my house as quickly as possible.

The commander himself doesn't look that fazed however, like that even needs to be stated. "Please, no need to be defensive. We'd just like to ask you a few things and we'll be on our way."

I notice his eyebrow raise a bit. "You actually look familiar to me, come to think of it. Where did we see each other before?"

"I was at Marcia's booth at the inn this afternoon," I clarify.

"So you were," he nods gently. He could try to paint himself as a sympathetic and relatable character; Ginger and I both know what he's really here for. "In any case, we won't waste any more of your time than necessary, so I'll be straightforward."

He leans forward in his chair, his arms crossed and his index finger tapping the table in some indeterminate rhythm. "When I was giving my speech in the square, I mentioned that there were some members of your caravan that may have been Moonblood sympathizers. Do you remember?"

He must think we're in primary school for all the patronizing words he's flinging at us. Good thing Ginger beats me to the response before I can say anything I might regret. "Yes, you did mention that. Sir."

Cassius heaves a small sigh before continuing, like he can feel remorse. "That isn't the full story, I'm afraid," he adds. "I didn't want to mention names in my address, which is why I didn't want to bring this up until we could meet privately."

I try to feign interest, even though I know exactly what he's about to say next. "Are you insinuating that..."

"Your parents may very well be traitors to the crown, yes," he concludes for me. He lets the kitchen's silence swell for a moment before he continues speaking. "I'm sure this isn't what you wanted to hear from me, but that is what we've turned up so far."

How convenient that they can not only destroy a caravan but then completely spin the issue in an entirely different direction. Even if Cassius wasn't part of that scouting party, I can tell he's doing everything he can to deflect attention away from the real traitors.

"How did you find out they were our parents?" Ginger quietly asks.

"We found some old paper records telling us they lived here with their son and daughter," the commander replies, looking back and forth between me and my sister. "The family resemblance is hard to ignore as well."

He straightens his posture and then fixates on me. My gaze hasn't left him once since this conversation started. "Jin, right? Your sister gave me your name."

I give him a small nod.

He tilts his head to the side, just slightly. "Were you aware of your parents' business with the Moonbloods?"

I thought he'd ask that at some point. I knew he'd try to get more info on my parents from me. But for some reason I can't think of a suitable response at the moment. "To what extent, sir?" I ask back, steadying the shakiness in my voice.

Cassius clears his throat and restates his question. "Did you know what they were up to while you weren't around? Did they openly discuss anything or do anything that might have looked suspicious?"

I want to look over at Ginger for help, but I can't. I'm on my own, and Cassius is blankly glaring at me, waiting for me to say something back. I don't know what to say to him. Frantically, my mind tries to formulate some sort of answer. What is only a few seconds of silence stretches into an eternity, and I mentally panic as I pray Cassius doesn't notice I'm struggling to find a lie to tell him.

"Calm yourself, Jin," he instructs, soothingly but with a gravely sinister undertone. "This is important."

I take his advice, and unsteadily take a deep breath in and out.

Ginger leans forward. I rest my forehead into my hands.

"Yes, sir," I softly respond. "Yes, I might have."

My sister's eyes go wide. Cassius raises an eyebrow and snaps his fingers at his escort. The soldier reaches into his pack next to his chair for some paper and ink.

"What can you tell us?" the commander asks, his neutral tone now tainted with a small note of urgency. "No detail is unimportant."

I glance over at Ginger. She continues to stare at me with those shocked, stunned blue eyes, like she's expecting me to deny anything I knew about our parents.

I turn my head back to Cassius and sigh. "I mean, they never explicitly told me anything involving the Moonbloods, but...but in the past I did see them behaving rather strangely."

"In what ways?"

"About...once a week, I guess, they'd load up a few backpacks with food and trade supplies and say they were 'going for a hike' or something like that," I solemnly explain. "They'd be gone for two, three hours tops, and then they'd come back once the sun's down."

Cassius nods at his assistant as he scribbles down what I'm saying. "Do you know what they were doing with all those supplies?"

I close my eyes and shake my head no. "But I looked into one of the bags one night when they returned. And it was completely empty. They took the supplies out but they never came back."

"Did your parents have a route they liked to hike regularly?"

"If they did, they never told us," I answer, glancing at Ginger again. She's still stupefied that I'm giving Cassius all of this information. Faintly, I can hear her breathing get heavier.

The soldier finishes transcribing what I have to say, and then nods at his superior. Cassius reaches under his vest and flips open a sterling pocket watch. "Jin, this will be very, very useful to us. Thank you for sharing," he blankly remarks, almost like a machine, as he slaps his watch shut and stands up from the table, his assistant obediently following suit. He places his hat back onto his head, hiding the top half of his face once more from the world.

"We are actually slightly behind schedule now, but this was a very valuable use of our time," he continues, pushing his chair back into the table and then turning his head towards Ginger. She still looks horrified, her hands tightly gripping each other as they block the lower half of her face. "Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Ginger. Jin."

He bows his head and motions for his assistant to follow him out the front door. The soldier actually rushes in front of him to get to the door first, respectfully propping it open as Cassius makes his exit.

Cassius catches himself before he enters the street. "Oh, and Jin," he calls back to me. I slowly turn my head in acknowledgement, and see the commander pointing down at my pack.

"Can I ask what you were doing out this evening?"

I actually have an excuse this time. "I was out at the market. I was grabbing a few cloth bolts and food before I came back."

"I see," Cassius replies after a moment, then tugs on his hat again. "Sorry for the delay. Good evening," he adds before he finishes leaving my house. Only when his commander is fully outside does he follow him out, dragging our door shut behind him.

Ginger waits for the bolt to _click_ back into place before she speaks up for the first time in what felt like ages. "Why did you tell him that?" she silently demands. Her posture has not changed in the past few minutes either.

I look back over at her, uncertain of what I should say. I can't tell if she's alright with what I told Cassius or not. "Did you tell him anything?" I ask back. "Before I got here?"

"No," she replies, almost timidly in a way. "He asked me the same things he asked you, and I just said no."

I let out a heavy sigh of relief and hang my head over the back of the chair. "That worked perfectly, then."

"Why didn't you just say you didn't know anything either, Jin?" Ginger inquires a second time, her voice getting a little bit louder and firmer. "Cassius has a lead now, he's going to look into this."

"If you can even call it a lead," I point out, sitting myself back up in the chair. "All I did was give him enough to keep him going."

"You should have kept quiet."

"I don't think I could have," I retort.

Her eyes narrow in my direction. "Why did you tell him that story?" she barks at me.

"What do you think would have happened if I didn't, Ginger?" I calmly respond. "What would Cassius think if the two people closest to his suspects said they didn't know anything about what they were doing?"

She's still leering at me, and I'm not sure why.

"I'm never selling out Mom and Pops, if that's what you're worried about. But if we both said we didn't know anything, then I think Cassius would know something's wrong."

It happens too quick for me to fully notice, but I think she blinks after I say that. "You...knew what you were doing?"

I nod affirmatively. "Look, I get it if you don't think I did the right thing..."

Ginger cuts me off. She doesn't say anything, but instead, to my surprise, she starts laughing. I could probably continue talking over her, and I'm pretty sure she's still able to hear me, but I'm more befuddled by her reaction instead, and my words just hang in my throat. She continues like that for a few seconds, until she finally regains the composure to start talking again.

"You're such an idiot, Jin," she chokes out. Her eyes are shut, but there's a small drop of water forming right at the corner of one of them. They open back up after a second, and they're shimmering in the dying sunlight. She isn't upset at me, or at least if she was, she isn't anymore.

"You're my idiot, though," she smiles at me. Another one of my heavy mental weights takes off from my head. I'm glad she's not angry. And I think she's glad that my gamble worked.

I return the grin as best as I can. "I'm glad I can live up to your expectations," I jocularly reply.

"Don't scare me like that again," she commands, shaking her head as she rests it in her hand.

"I can't promise that," I return. "But I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you're safe. That's what the parents would have done, and that's what I'm doing. Got it?"

She renews her smile again. "Always the protector, aren't you?"

"I wouldn't be doing my job as big brother if I wasn't, would I?"

She stands up to go to the cooking area, and I know exactly why. I try to follow, but she immediately points me back down into my seat. "No you don't!" she commands. "You're going to stay right there."

"Hey, I just want to help with the cooking is all," I respond.

"If your job is going to be supplying the Moonbloods and tricking Cassius, then the least I can do is make sure you're in good enough shape to do it," she asserts, jabbing her finger at my chair again. "Now sit down and don't move a muscle until I bring your dinner over, alright?"

She makes a very convincing case. And I'm certainly not going to argue with somebody offering to make dinner for me. She doesn't look like she's going to bend on the issue either, if those flashing, intense blue eyes of hers are anything to go by.

So instead I just give her a "Yes, ma'am," and sit back down, as she smiles back at me and starts running water into a cast iron pot.


	6. The Visitor

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 6

The Visitor

As per our agreement yesterday, Marcia wants to meet at Nikolai's forge today to wrap up the job and get my payment squared, so when I wake up the next day, I waste almost no time throwing my clothes on and half-running down the stairs. I determinedly barge through the kitchen door, and accidentally spook Ginger as I pass through. She's at the stove again, this time cooking off what smells like bacon. I'd stop and enjoy breakfast with her on any other day, but Marcia's losing business while she's waiting on me. I don't think our meeting should be too long either.

Of course, Ginger's attention is diverted a bit as I bombastically make my entrance into the kitchen, and I think I see the spatula momentarily jump out of her hand as well. She shoots me a very skeptical look once she recovers from that little shock; it's that kind of look Marcia tends to reserve for rowdy customers at her tavern. Ginger's version, I find, is much more potent, and I slow down the moment I feel her gaze fixing on me.

"You're in a rush," she remarks as she blindly flips a couple of strips in the greased pan.

"It's pay day, Ginger!" I reply, failing to curb my enthusiasm in any significant way. "Like, my first actual wage off a running job. It's exciting!"

"Is that what you're calling it? Running?" she asks back. She's still a little upset that I got the drop on her a little bit ago, but that very gradual grin creeping onto her face indicates I have the upper hand here.

"Better connotation than smuggling," I explain. "And it keeps anyone listening in on us in the dark too."

That probably isn't the right thing to say, as I can tell by Ginger's brief shiver. "Don't make me think of the military eavesdropping on us, please."

"Calm down, Ginger. They probably don't have anything that can do that anyways," I reassure her as I duck down for my pack and make for the front door. "I'll be back in a few, alright?"

Ginger glances down at the pan for a second and then back to me. "You're not going to have any breakfast first?"

I take my hand off of the doorknob and look back over at my sister. She actually looks a little sad that I'm actually planning to skip out on a meal for the time being. It's one of her gifts that I'm less than fond of; Ginger is very good at making me feel bad when she wants to.

But I don't fully succumb to the mind games quite yet. "Marcia's actually waiting to open her inn until I meet with her," I try to excuse myself. "I'm just trying to get her back as soon as I can."

At least I get a full grin out of her this time. "Alright, fair enough," she concedes. "Just get back here as soon as you can, okay? I put the bacon on just for you."

"You won't even have time to miss me," I beam back as I get ready to open the door a second time. Only instead of Ginger looking at me like a puppy wanting to be adopted, this time I'm blocked by the thought that I maybe, just maybe, might get held up at Nik's place. I'm not sure what for, maybe Cassius would decide to ruin my day again as well as Nikolai's while I'm getting my money. And if I do, there's a better chance Ginger would have to enjoy her breakfast alone for the day.

And, arguably even worse, I wouldn't get one at all. Thinking quickly, I dart back into the kitchen for a moment, hijack an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter, and _then_ open the door and let myself out into the street, tossing the apple up and down in my hand like a ball as I casually stroll down the strip.

The weather's cooled down compared to yesterday, the sun mostly obscured by a thick grey cloud cover overhead. Occasionally a strong wind will blow and the sun will sneak a few rays through the layer, but not for any long length of time. Amongst other reasons I can imagine why Marcia wanted to see me at Nikolai's today; if you're in need of someplace warm, it's hard to contest with a blacksmith's forge.

It's also one of the less conspicuous spots to do business like this, or at least in my opinion. At the inn, there are plenty of people around, plenty of unwanted ears hearing every conversation happening in it at once. That will never do. No, for something like this, we need privacy.

That concept only becomes more and more compelling as I finish approaching the forge. Complete privacy. Without the cacophony and noise and potential spying that the inn offered. The exact opposite is what we need right now. Serene, silent, meditative...

"I said get o'er 'ere, ya lil devil!" Nikolai's voice booms from his forge again. Just once I'd love to have a talk with him that doesn't start with him yelling at the top of his lungs at someone in his forge that I can't see.

I flinch as something glass shatters from behind the thin wooden walls. "I dunno how ya got in 'ere, but I know how yer gettin' out!" the blacksmith shouts again, as I ease my way towards his front door. Casually, I slip the apple into my jacket pocket and press an ear next to the frame, curious and kind of eager to hear what all the commotion is about.

"Easy, buddy! I'm not trying to cause trouble!" a high-pitched voice I don't recognize squeaks back. "I was just cold last night and...whoa!"

"Marcia, for the Life Thread's sake, get the lead outta yer boots and do somethin'!"

"I'm trying, Nik!" the innkeeper barks back, then after a second adds, "There, I opened the window for it!"

"Great, now...ach, for the love o', what are you doin' with that broom, Marce?"

"Just trying to help!" she yells. I hear something else crash a second or two later.

"Hey, you're going to hurt someone with that thing!" the tiny voice retaliates.

"I don't care if yer hurtin' by this point or not, ya flyin' weasel!" Nikolai hollers back.

"Calm down, alright?" the voice pleads. "And I'm not a weasel either! I'm a...ack!"

"Ha! Gotcha!" Nikolai triumphantly cheers. I can hear him marching, thumping his way towards the front door now, and I take a step back to give him room.

"Ow, ow, owowow! Not by the ears!" the voice cries out as Nikolai shows it to the door. "Those things are sensitive, you know!"

"Oh, I'll show ya a few things 'bout sensitivity once I'm through with you," Nikolai growls as his door wildly swings open to the outside. I can't see Nikolai with the door in my way, but he's probably in the doorway, forcibly yanking along whoever the intruder is.

"Now get outta my house!" he booms again. Only instead of someone getting shoved out the door by the frustrated smith, a screaming orange and white blur flies out the door, zipping past me at about eye level. Stupefied, I can only watch as it soars across the street and crashes into a fully-stocked vegetable cart on the other side. The impact isn't nearly enough to displace the cart itself, but it does upset a few cabbages as they roll over and onto the ground.

I cringe a bit as the creature falls to the ground shortly after, its feet slumped over its head as it tries to recover from its daze. Even if they aren't the right words for it, whatever Nikolai just threw out of his abode definitely looks like a flying weasel. It can't be any more than a couple of feet high, and its fur is mostly orange, with a white underbelly, paws and face. In contrast, its ears are a little longer and a bit more pronounced than any common ferret's would be, and I also notice the two batlike wings on its back, both of which are currently pinned down by their stunned owner.

Its eyes are still shut tight, probably as it tried to recuperate from the pain. I'd lean past the door to ask Nikolai what in the world just happened, but he yanks it closed in frustration before I get a chance to. Which actually confuses me a little more, come to think of it. Whatever's lying against the cart right now has to be a pet of some sort, right? Then who was Nikolai yelling at, and why would he throw the weasel out and not its owner?

I'd have to ask him later. In the meantime, I can't help but feel a little sorry for the creature, as it puts a paw to its head and starts gently rubbing it.

I turn to the closed door momentarily, but for some reason I can't get myself to move to it at the moment. At least not with the weasel there essentially licking its wounds. I can hear Ginger yelling at me now, actually. _You get right back out there and patch that thing up, Jin!_ she'd probably say. Whatever just got tossed out of Nikolai's door is small, cute, and fuzzy. All of which are things Ginger absolutely loves.

So, in an effort to earn karma with my sister, and mostly at the lack of a better explanation, I turn on my foot to the cart and walk over to the weasel. Just to see how it's doing.

It's still rubbing its head, trying to recover from the fling by the time I get to it. "You alright?" I ask, like it's capable of answering.

The weasel slowly creaks its eyes open, a bright but deep emerald green in hue, and nods slightly back. "Head still hurts, but fine apart from that," it replies, to my shock.

I try to keep calm and avoid exclaiming to the world that it knows how to speak. Though I'm pretty sure my face betrays my composure either way. "You can talk?"

She - I'm guessing it's a girl from the voice - looks back at me skeptically, like I missed the daily newspaper or something. "Well, yeah!" she spritely responds. "You've never seen a nimbat before?"

"Is that what you're called?" I continue to ask questions, completely befuddled and amazed by just the fact I'm talking to something that isn't a Warm or Moonblood.

The nimbat rolls herself over onto her stomach and tinkers with her wings for a second, probably checking for damage. "Yep! We kinda like to keep to ourselves though. You know, introverts."

I raise an eyebrow curiously. "You must not be from around here. I think I would've bumped into you before if I have."

She shakes her head no and starts flapping the wings on her back. She's able to get herself off the ground after a second and brings herself to a hover just in front of me. "My clan lives to the south. Near Abadis Forest, if you've heard of it?"

"Yeah, right next to Denham, right?"

"That's it," she confirms. "I'm just up here on...well, I'm just kind of exploring."

That gets a small grin out of me. "You're really out of your way then."

"Yeah, and let me tell you, the whole trip's just been one huge disaster! It's the cold season, so nothing's growing for food. There's a ton of avees and wolves prowling around out to get me," she grieves as she shoots a glare at Nikolai's front door. "And the second I find someplace safe and warm for the night, I get thrown into a vegetable stand!" she yells, hoping Nikolai's still within shouting distance through the wall.

I feel blood rush to my face, though I'm not really sure why I should feel embarrassed for something I didn't really have a part of. "Yeah, Nikolai's just one of those people you don't want to get angry."

"You know that crazy galoot?" the nimbat inquires, still a little miffed about the incident.

"He's a nice guy when you get to know him," I continue to defend. "Look, I'm sure he's just as upset as you are, so why don't I head inside and talk to him for you? Let him know you're okay and that maybe he overreacted?"

"Maybe?" she dubiously repeats.

Bad choice of words on my part. "Okay, he _did_ overreact a little. Somewhat. A lot. Too much."

"But...yeah," she cautiously accepts. "Would you do that for me?"

I grin back at her. "Sure. You need anything else?"

She's about to make a reply, but a loud growl coming from somewhere near her midsection forces her to double over reflexively. "Well, I haven't had anything to eat yet, for one," she explains. "You wouldn't know where the nearest fruit tree is, would you?"

I waste no time digging my apple out of my pocket and tossing it to the nimbat underhanded. Its initial trajectory puts it short of her position, but she quickly swoops down and catches it with both hands.

"Why don't you just take that for now and take it easy for a bit," I tell her. "I'll go talk to Nik in the meantime, alright?"

She blinks a couple times before she answers. "So not only are you going to yell at the guy who just threw me like a shot put, but you're also giving me a free breakfast?" she recaps.

"Yeah, is there a problem?"

She peers down at the glossy red sheen of the fruit for a second, then glances back up at me. "You're way too nice to people," she complains.

_Well, most people._ "I aim to please," I return as I turn back to the forge's front door.

I stop myself about halfway, and look back over at the nimbat, who's about ready to take the first bite out of the fruit. "Hey, what should I call you, by the way?"

She stops with her mouth open and looks at me curiously, almost affectionately in a way. "Um, Fidget," she says after a small pause. "My name's Fidget."

I give her another smile over my shoulder. "Alright, Fidget. I'll let him know what you have to say." And at that, I give her a small wave and head back to the forge.

Right before I turn the knob to enter, I turn around once again to check on the nimbat. She's taken a seat on the cart's awning, still holding the apple with two hands as she went to work on it. I'm sure Fidget would have asked for my name as well, but right now she's too busy munching away on her breakfast, cheerfully enjoying every bite as it came to her.

I laugh a bit to myself, amusedly, and push open the front door, secretly wondering what she's really doing up here.

* * *

"I don't bloody care. She still broke into my house, and I dealt with it as such," Nikolai steadfastly continues to argue.

"Look, Nik, all she needed was a place for the night. And wasn't like that furnace of yours was being used that late anyways."

Nikolai blinks at me, almost stunned. "Was that what she was on 'bout earlier? She just needed a place to rest?"

"And when you wouldn't listen, you threw her fifty feet into a vegetable stand," I blankly point out. "I think you're lucky she didn't break anything."

The stand's owner must have just come back from his break or something, because a horrified yell of "My cabbages!" leaked its way through the forge's walls. Fidget must have taken off by this point as well; I would probably hear her arguing with the vendor over her liability in the matter if she was still there.

Nikolai glances at his front door from where he's seated, like he can see through it and to where he had flung the nimbat. After a small second, he turns back to me, sitting across from him at the medium sized rectangular table, then over to Marcia on his left, and puffs out some air with reluctant concession. "Aight, fine. I mighta o'erdone it a tad," he admits. "You know where she is right now?"

"She's probably out of the village limits by now," I speculate. "I think she'll be back at some point."

"Good," the blacksmith sighs. "She coulda at least woke me up and said she'd be stayin' the night."

"Well, in your defense, she still snuck into your house," Marcia states.

"Aye, she did," Nikolai agrees. "But I'm not that 'eartless. I'd o' gladly let her stay if she let me know she needed a spot."

That sounds more like the Nikolai Ginger and I grew up with. "She'll appreciate hearing that. I'll let you know when I see her again?"

"Aye, and if she needs a place ta rest again, let her know she's welcome ta come back."

He glances over at Marcia as well, a jocular grin formulating on his face. "And that the crazy broom lady's gone as well," he appends.

"Hey!"

"Yer out one vase ta me now, by the way."

"Who puts vases inside blacksmith forges in the first place?" she snaps back.

A very valid question, but probably not what we're here for. "Uh, Marce?" I say. "You want to square off before Roscoe gets swarmed again?"

She snaps to attention and her hand immediately goes to her belt. "Uh, right. Good idea," she corrects herself as she wrestles loose a coin purse.

I reach a hand into my jacket pocket and slide out a small scrap of paper from yesterday. Sereth had used it as an impromptu receipt, and I thought it'd be good form to bring it today, just to prove I did the job. I press it to the table and slide to Marcia.

She's recounting the money in the bag, but she shoots me a look of approval out of the corner of her eyes. "Covering all your bases, aren't you?"

"Just showing I didn't run back to the house and throw a party with Ginger," I reply. "Make sure that goes in a safe spot, alright?"

"Always do," Marcia nods as she ties the bag off and tosses it in front of me, the coins clinking onto the table as they land. "Sixty by ten makes six hundred, if my math is right."

"Certainly is," I happily confirm as I swing my backpack around and open it up. "Thanks again, Marcia!"

She seems satisfied as well, always a nice feeling when wrapping up business, and stands up from the table. "I'll let you know if I need anything else run later on, okay?"

_Funny you should say that,_ I mentally reply. Physically I clear my throat and say, "Actually, Fuse wants us to take it easy on the visits for now."

"What?" Marcia interjects.

"It's 'cause of that blasted army camp, isn't it?" Nikolai speculates.

"Pretty much," I answer. "And until we can find a workaround, I think we need to postpone any more runs to there unless we have to."

Marcia frowns. "What if they hit a shortage? Then as soon as they're found by Cassius then..."

She goes quiet midway through her sentence. She knows how the rest of it ends. She glances down at the receipt for a moment, then walks over to the corner of the forge, where a black furnace is roaring with life. She flicks open the grill, peers at the paper one final time, along with the bright red cinders and dancing orange-yellow flames inside the furnace. And then, after one small sigh, she casually tosses it into the flames.

"Can't let them see me with that," she softly tells herself as she snaps the grill shut. Between the venting slots, I can see the edges of the paper curl up and shift from its normal tan color to a burnt brown to a crisp black as the fire consumes it.

Marcia looks back up and me and Nikolai. "We're really in the thick of it now, aren't we?"

Nikolai adjusts himself in his chair and turns over his shoulder at the innkeeper. "Hey, don't worry too much 'bout it, aight?" he responds, hesitantly grinning from the corner of his mouth. His tone is still concerned, a lot like Marcia's, but he's still shooting for at least a little bit of optimism. "Jin said it himself, we just need ta find an alternate route is all."

"I'll do a little exploring later today and let you know what I find, okay?" I follow up.

With no noise, Marcia almost unnoticeably nods, and then points at the door to the forge. "I...think I need to go help Roscoe," she tells us as she marches over to the door and solemnly, almost helplessly shows herself out. Nikolai looks like he wants to say something more to her, but can't get it out before she goes out the door and secures it behind her.

"What's up with her?" I ask. I feel like I have something to do with this, though I'm not entirely certain what.

Nikolai is still smiling for some reason. "She'll cheer up in a bit," he responds. "I'm thinkin' she already has a lot on her mind for the moment."

"You think I should have kept quiet about..."

"Absolutely not," Nikolai interrupts. "She needs ta know what's goin' on with the camp just as badly as the rest of us do."

He glances over back at the door, like Marcia is still there for some reason. "Her 'eart's in the right spot. As soon as we find a way 'round that camp, we'll be sittin' pretty and she'll perk right back up."

I put a hand to my head, resting my chin on the palm and my first two fingers against the side. "I'll get right to work on that, then."

Nikolai scoots his chair out and stands up. "And I think I'll get back ta work myself, actually," he informs me as he turns to the forge's furnace and reaches for the chain lever dangling above him. He yanks on it with force, and a deep, rumbling _fwoom_ emanates from inside the furnace as the bellows shoots fresh air into it.

I watch and listen Nikolai rework his furnace for a few minutes, until he peeks over his shoulder and notices I'm still at the table.

"Yer still 'ere?" he inquires with slight confusion. "Thought you'd be off scoutin' by this point."

I thought I would too, in all honesty. But I still have something on my mind. Something that's been there ever since the parents left. And I can't get myself to leave Nikolai's with it still picking at me.

"Nik, can I ask another favor from you?" I say to him.

"Why can't you?" Nikolai invites. He adjusts the black, fingerless leather glove on his hand as he moves over to a stack of iron bars in the corner of the forge.

"I want you to teach me how to swordfight," I immediately reply, without any hesitation, like I'm going to miss some sort of window in the conversation.

The blacksmith laughs a bit as he arranges a small pyramidal stack of bars and picks them up. "That's the favor, eh? Just a couple o' sword fightin' lessons?"

"Whatever you know, yeah."

"Well I'm no captain o' the watch, but I can show you a few things 'bout it," the blacksmith assures me as he sets the stack down next to the furnace. "Why the sudden interest, Jin?"

I'm about to give my answer, until Nikolai catches himself and gives one for me. "Nope, never mind! I promised ya! When I gifted you that short sword, right? How she holdin' up?"

"She's been doing great," I respond, and then notice posthumously that Nikolai's vocabulary is slowly starting to infiltrate mine. "But that's not why I'm asking."

Nikolai gives me a crooked look of confusion from over his shoulder. "Oh? Then what for?"

I close my eyes and dry swallow, hoping what I'm about to say doesn't put Nikolai right off the idea altogether.

"Jin? Y'alright?"

I clear my throat and glare back up at him. "I want to be able to defend Ginger if Cassius attacks."


	7. Courage

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 7

Courage

The forge goes dead silent for what seems like forever. I continue to stare at Nikolai determinedly, standing behind my words. Meanwhile, I'm still working on deciphering what mood his face is trying to convey at the moment. Right now it's in some strange state between horribly confused, bewilderedly stunned, and shockingly scared.

But mostly, he's probably thinking I lost it, if I'm going to be honest. And why wouldn't he? I just gave him one hell of a reason to train me. You have me, a guy with no combat experience save for the occasional slap fight I'd have with Ginger when we were young, wanting sufficient instruction to ward off a commander of the Royal Army, who probably has enough notches on his sword to fill an auditorium with the shavings.

_Wow. Maybe I really am going insane._

"I don't think I heard ya correctly the first time there," Nikolai finally responds, tugging on his leather glove.

My eyes don't leave his. "I don't have to hold him off forever, Nikolai. But if he does come after Ginger, I want to give her time to escape."

"If he comes after you, I'm expectin' ya both ta run," Nikolai immediately retaliates. "Cassius is not a man yer lookin' ta mess with."

I can feel my eyes narrow at the blacksmith. "I'm not going to actively pursue him, Nikolai. That'd just be reckless," I point out. "I just want to..."

The blacksmith turns his back to me, facing the forge again. "Not interested."

He finally gets a blink out of me. My brain needs a second to process his response. "Sorry?"

"You heard me," Nikolai responds bitterly, not even bothering to look at me now, pretending I'm not even here as he loads the metal bars into the furnace. "I ain't helpin'."

I take a step forward, not daunted by the negative reply. "What about my birthday, Nik? You said you'd..."

"I know what I said," he snarls over me. "I know I made a promise. Ya wanna know why I did that?"

I don't answer. He explains anyway.

"When I offered you fightin' lessons, I did that assumin' you'd know when ta use them right. You've always been a smart lad, and when I said I'd help train ya, I did that thinkin' you'd be smart enough ta know how ta take yer fights, and ta know when ta back off."

He finally turns his head. There's not a hint of anything but gravity in that leer, and I can feel it bore right through me. "Well, sorry ta say, Jin. But you just proved me wrong."

"You don't trust me anymore? Is that what the deal is?" I demand.

The blacksmith pauses, then slams the door shut on the furnace before turning back to face me. "Ya know somethin'? No. No, I don't trust you, Jin. If anythin', I'd say you got a death wish, considerin' what you just asked o' me." He speaks furiously, but with suppression, like he's holding back the full force of his rage.

I feel the base of my spine freeze for a split second, and I have to wait for it to vanish before I say anything back. Meanwhile, the blacksmith crosses back over to the table, where I'm still sitting, and leans on the back of the chair across from me.

"I don't have..." I finally start to argue.

"Lemme tell ya somethin', Jin. And this is somethin' I've noticed 'bout ya ever since I first met ya. Ya must've been, like, eight when ya first moved in down the street there. Two days later, yer explorin' the town with yer sister and decide to pop by 'ere.

"Back then, I'm in the middle of makin' a real beauty of a weapon, so I'm dressed up all the way. Got my bandana, my apron, my dark glasses, my hammer, the whole getup. So when I hear you knock on my door and I move ta open her up, you musta took me for a murderer or somethin'. 'Cause the first thing you do, and I swear this is true, is shove Ginger behind ya, put yer fists up and challenge me ta fight ya.

"Now, o' course I'm no murderer, and you calmed right down soon as I took my glasses and bandana off. But let's play pretend for a second, eh? Say I really was a killer and I was out ta getcha. What woulda happened, you think? The way I see it, yer dead. Sure, ya made sure Ginger escaped. But 'stead o' runnin' with her, you decided ta fight. You knew damn well you had little ta no chance, but you didn't care. Ya stayed behind instead of savin' yer own life. And I'd say with ninety-nine percent confidence you woulda died there if I had my way."

His gaze narrows even more. "Yer a smart kid, and I still stand by that. But if there's any one thing out there that's gonna be yer downfall, you don't know when yer outmatched. I'm doin' ya a favor by sayin' no. 'Cause if Cassius comes for you, yer gonna be with Ginger, and yer gonna live to see another day. I'm not lettin' you throw yer life away tryin' ta fight someone yer never beatin' in a hundred years."

The forge goes silent again, and Nikolai is still breathing heavily. His latest rant wasn't nearly as bombastic as they usually are; he's kept his voice on the softer side for a change.

He sighs and shakes his head at me after a moment. "I still haven't gotten through ta ya, have I?"

No. He certainly has. He wants me to run. It's logical. It keeps me alive. Cassius can't kill me if he can't find me, if that's what it came to. But for some reason, even though every part of my mind is telling me to just take his advice and move along, I can't convince myself it's the right thing to do.

Nikolai glares at me again, leaning forward on the chair. "Yer not gonna leave me alone until I say yes, are ya?"

No. Or, at least, that's not what I meant to imply. And I want to say that I'll back off if Cassius comes for us. But I can't speak. My mouth is refusing to open.

He slams the back of his chair with both hands and stands up straight. "Fine. I get it. But yer not gettin' any help outta me. I'm not gonna be the man who helped ya get yerself killed."

He stomps back to the furnace and pokes the flames a little bit, as my body starts obeying again. "Nik, I'm..."

"I really don't care whether yer sorry or not," he grumbles as he stokes the flames. "If you don't wanna listen and take a fight you've no business takin', then you go right on ahead. I'm done tryin' ta stop ya."

He turns a head over his shoulder, a single, crackling grey eye firing at me like a lightning bolt from across the forge. "But you oughta know there's a very, very thin line 'tween bravery and downright stupidity, Jin. And you'd best think long and hard 'bout which one applies 'ere. For yer sake as well as yer sister's."

We continue to stare at each other for another intense moment or two, me with a sorrow I can't quite communicate and Nikolai with a fury that he can't seem to fully direct.

In the end, he just turns back to his furnace and points a finger off to his side. "Now get the hell outta my forge," he barks. "We both got work ta do."

* * *

The bacon is still hot when I return to the house. Ginger had cooked off a good amount of it, and there is plenty still to be had once I come into the kitchen. She's preparing some orange juice as I walk through the doors, and out of instinct I walk over to help her. But, true to her word from last night, she points me right over to the table instead, refusing to let me interfere with her work.

I'm actually kind of glad she doesn't want me to help out this time. I'm trying not to show it, but that feeling from last night, like my mind weighs fifty times more than it should, is back. I stagger my way over to my seat and collapse into it, a little more noisily than usual. Ginger looks over at me out of curiosity, but I give her a weak smile, like it was just an accident, and she smiles back and returns to work on our breakfast.

With her back turned, I rest both of my elbows on the table and grapple the top of my head, like that will alleviate the pressure somehow. I don't want to think about Nikolai. I don't want to think about whether I'm brave or an idiot. I don't want to think about what I'll do if Cassius finds that one piece of evidence he's looking for.

But my brain has other ideas. Incessantly, it's egging me on, practically coercing me into picking my questions apart. Did I just lose Nikolai as a friend? And what if I did? Actually, so what if I did? Maybe I can teach myself how to use my sword correctly. But what if I can't? Is there another way to hold back Cassius? Maybe trap the house in some way? And how do I tell Ginger any of this? Would she understand any of it? What if she reacts like Nikolai does? Can I even risk that?

My skull feels ready to split, and I clamp it back together with my hands. I want to vent the thoughts out of my head. I need to clear myself. But they continue to eat away, constantly pounding away at my sanity with each question I can't answer, each fear I can't rationalize. I think I might have to run to the door and get back outside...

"Jin? Jin!"

I feel my whole body twitch as I realize Ginger is standing right next to me, holding two plates in her hands, looking at me with apparent concern.

Shakily, I take a deep breath in and move my arms. "I-I'm sorry, Ginger," I stutter as she drops off my breakfast and takes the seat next to me.

I pick up a fork and break one of the bacon strips in half, but that doesn't do anything about that leer my sister is firing at me. "What did you do this time?"

"Nothing you need to be worried about," I reply, crunching into the strip. A little well done, but still very good. Are nimbats carnivorous at all? I wonder if Fidget's ever tried this before. Maybe I'll try inviting her over here next time I catch her in town.

"Jin?"

I catch my mind drifting away again as Ginger shocks me back to reality. She blinks, and I stare at her for a second before hiding my face behind my hand.

"You're really, really out of it today," she tells me.

"I'm not out of anything," I fire back.

"I can tell you're hiding something."

I snicker a bit. "I'm just lost in my thoughts a bit. That's..."

She audibly sighs over that last part and rests her head on the back of her hands. She's smiling, but this is less of a friendly grin and more of a smile you give to someone you're beating in a chess game. "I've known you for the past nineteen years, Jin. I know when you're not telling me something on purpose."

I don't reply to her, and just flip the remainder of the strip into my mouth.

She turns back to her plate. "You were gone for a pretty long time, you know."

"It wasn't that awful. Half-hour, at the absolute worst."

"It doesn't take a half-hour to just get payment for a job."

I swallow the bacon and clear my throat. I don't dare look up at her right now. "I just needed to talk to Nikolai once Marcia left."

"What about?" she presses.

_Oh, you've stepped in it now, Jin. What are you going to do, lie to her? Have fun with that._

I timidly glance back up at her, like I might be violating some sort of legal code in doing so. "I..." is about as far as I get before I realize that nothing except the truth is going to work with her. It's that stare that does it for me. There's something serene about those eyes, something that keeps me from lying to them. They feel placid, pure, like contaminating them with bad words would be something I'd never forgive myself for doing.

She wins.

_Told you._

My head falls back to the table. "I asked Nik if he could show me how to use a sword," I say.

Those pristine blue eyes suddenly freeze over and fire an icy stare directly at me. "Why?"

I feel like I still have an option to back out and cover up something, but I sure she won't let me. Not anymore. "Self-defense," I try to dodge. It's technically the truth, in a way.

She doesn't buy it. "You're going after Cassius, aren't you?"

I nearly snap. That's almost exactly what Nikolai thought. "No, Ginger," I promptly deny, a little louder than I would have liked. "I'm serious. It's purely self-defense. I just don't want the army kicking our door in one day expecting us to..."

"Jin, look at me."

I don't want to. But I look back up at her anyways. I've seen Ginger look concerned plenty of times before this, but I can say with complete certainty that this is probably the most genuine and deep worry I've ever seen her carry.

"Promise me that you won't do anything stupid."

_Ginger, we live in a village full of Moonblood sympathizers. We _live_ on doing stupid things._

But I know better than to smart mouth to her. Especially when seeing her like this. So I go with something a little more conservative. "I thought that kinda went without saying," I reply with a faint smile, trying to cheer her up.

"That isn't good enough," she shakes her head.

"Nikolai said no, by the way. And I think it's because he's scared for me."

That doesn't move her much if at all. "I can't say I blame him."

"Ginger, look..."

"Promise me, Jin!" she forcefully demands. "You're my only family now. I thought you'd understand that by now!"

"I do, Ginger. And..."

"If you did, then why would you think about doing something like this?"

"Because I'm your brother, Ginger!" I retaliate. "I told you before, I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't watching out for you."

"But who's watching out for you, Jin?"

I open my mouth, but there aren't any words coming out of it. I don't have an answer.

She sighs and looks away for a brief moment. "I...don't want you to be in any more danger than you already are," she softly says.

"Ginger, if this is about me trying to learn how to..."

I stop talking. This isn't what she's on about. I can see her hand twitching a bit. She moves her other one to it, trying to get it to calm down.

"I don't have a problem with you learning sword, Jin," she tells me. "But promise me that you won't use it unless you have to."

She glances back up at me. The sunlight breaking through the window lights her sapphire blue eyes up again.

"If Cassius decides to attack, I want you to promise me you'll run. And you don't fight him unless he doesn't give you a choice."

The kitchen is quiet, save for a couple birds' chattering penetrating through the windows. Ginger continues to stare at me, waiting for me to say something back.

I don't know why I delay my response for so long, but I finally give her a nod back. "Of course," I say after a moment more. "I can do that."

My reward is a hesitant but grateful smile from my sister. "Thank you, Jin," she says after an almost perfectly silent exhale. "I was...just worried, is all."

"Don't be. I promised I wouldn't leave you alone, Ginger," I remind her, putting a hand to her shoulder. "And even if Cassius comes for us, I'm not going to leave you alone then either."

Her smile looks a little more relieved now, to my relief, appropriately enough. "Alright. Big Brother," she responds, finally with that special little bit of lightheartedness and kindness only she knows how to properly combine.

I let myself get lost in her eyes for another second or two, then turn back to my breakfast. "You did a good job on the bacon, by the way," I tell her as I bite into the second strip.

* * *

I pound on the door in a quick burst of three, then wait for a couple seconds. No response. I fire off another set.

"Workin'. Come back later," comes the annoyed response. I'd normally yield to that, except I'm not willing to wait this time. Rebelliously, I knock on the door again, refusing to comply with the warning.

I'm rewarded with the pounding of heavy footsteps and some grumbling. "Ach, for the love o' all that's holy..." Then the door slams open, Nikolai scowling at me from over the dark grey bandana masking his face from the nose down.

"I told ya already, I'm..." His voice trails off as he notices the source of the disturbance is me. I politely wave to him, but it does little to alter the peeved, even frustrated look I'm getting from him currently.

He doesn't say anything else to me for the moment. "Hi, Nik," I greet him.

"What are you doin' back 'ere?" he quietly snarls.

I take a second to make sure my thoughts are aligned properly before I say anything. "You were right to get on me this morning. About Cassius."

I can hear him exhale from behind the facemask. Again, he doesn't respond. "I...talked about things with Ginger. I'm still going to protect her. But I also want to be there for her afterwards."

His gaze softens by an almost immeasurable degree, but I can tell he's listening. "I still want to learn how to use my sword, and I still want you to teach me. But it's not because I want to keep Ginger safe. I want to keep both of us safe."

The blacksmith continues to glare at me from over his bandana for a few seconds, and I can see him analyzing me, studying me almost, every calculation being reflected in the dank greyness of his eyes. Meanwhile, I stare back at him, as convicted as I could manage.

I'm not doing this for just Ginger anymore.

He gently pulls his bandana down, revealing a friendly, slightly proud grin. "C'mon in, then," he nods over his shoulder and moves out of the doorway.

With a newfound enthusiasm, I gladly reenter the forge. My new studio. Without prompt, I quickly remove the sheath from my belt and place it onto the table as Nikolai shuts the door and locks it behind me. Casually, I look back at Nikolai's work area. The flames are still roaring in the furnace as the metal bars from earlier are being smelted into the armor molds, the yellow hot steel slowly cooling and solidifying in its new form. On his anvil is the work I probably unwittingly interrupted, a relatively large great sword, the tip of which is still hot and unshaped. I peer up from the floor, at the wide collection of arms and protective wear on display. Nikolai knew when he made a masterpiece, and took care of them accordingly. A pair of engraved battle axes above the side window. Below it, just above ground level, a triangular buckler made out of some alloy I can't identify immediately. And next to the furnace, just above Fidget's head, lies a...

"Fidget?" I ask with a slight degree of disbelief. She looks like rather comfortable at the moment, seated on top of the black cast iron, propped up against the wall, casually chewing away on a banana for her lunch. If her mouth wasn't full, I'm sure she would have greeted me verbally, so instead she just waves her paw at me for the time being.

"I see you met my new assistant, eh?" Nikolai asks as he walks up to my side. "Found her while you were at yer house."

"Your assistant, Nik?" I skeptically say back.

"Aye. The deal is she comes ta my forge and helps out when she can, and in return she gets ta stay 'ere for the night, outta the way o' any nasties lurkin' 'bout in the forest."

Fidget swallows and chimes in as well. "And I also get full access to the kitchen," she adds on. "You're right. He _can_ be a nice guy when he wants to."

"Key words bein' 'wants ta,' mind you," Nikolai states as he points at the furnace. "Keep those flames roarin', aight? Still plenty o' work ta do."

"Aye aye, captain!" the nimbat replies as she sets her lunch down, zips up to the bellows chain and yanks down on it as forcefully as her body weight can manage. Which, to my slight surprise, actually brings a solid burst of air into the forge, rejuvenating the fiery glow inside.

Nikolai unties his bandana and tosses it onto the table, then picks up my sword and inspects it. "Just as I remember her," he reminisces as he starts to slip the blade out. He shudders for a moment as it slips out of the sheath a little faster than he expects, then lifts it up and down a couple of times, like he's checking the weight.

"Ya took her ta Sereth's, if I didn't know better," he observes as he replaces the blade and returns it to me.

"The oil tipped you off, I'm guessing?" I ask as I reattach the weapon to my side.

"Sharpsword oil," he clarifies. "Only one guy I know who can make it that well."

"Well, he knows what he's doing."

"Aye, that he does," Nikolai agrees as he motions me towards the staircase leading upstairs. I glance over at Fidget once again, who seems to be enjoying yanking on the chain a little too much, then catch up to Nikolai.

"Now then," the blacksmith says to me as I start up the stairs. "Let's see what we can do 'bout that sword arm o' yers, eh?"


	8. Trials

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 8

Trials

I unleash another set of fast blows towards Nikolai, and watch him almost effortlessly knock each one of them to the side with his two-handed blade. I can feel the tiredness start to take its toll; my breathing has already gone shallow. I can feel a few droplets of sweat starting to bead on my forehead. I still have full control of my arms, but I can tell they're approaching their limits as well.

I watch the last strike get deflected and I finally concede, out of breath and stamina both.

"If yer outta breath, then yer doin' it right," the blacksmith tells me as he slips the great sword into the sheath on his back.

"I...fail to see...how," I pant back, doubled over with my hands on my knees. I don't think we've been at it for any more than an hour, but I'm already exhausted. With effort I manage to drag myself over to the corner of the training area, and drop the blunted steel training weapon onto the nearby worktable before falling over onto the wooden bench next to it. On another day, I'd say it's too hard for to get comfortable and lie down on it, but that's irrelevant right now. I'm just glad I have some time to rest, and I really don't care where or how I take it.

Nikolai joins me soon after, two cups of cold water in his hands. "Ya did fine. Right now, we're just findin' where yer limits are, is all," he tells me as he hands one of the cups to me.

I sit myself back up and accept the drink. Somehow, between then and the time it takes for the blacksmith to take the seat next to me, I've already downed the cups contents and started searching for a spot to refill it.

Nikolai points me in the direction of the bathroom, and I promptly stand back up to walk over. "Ya know, for someone who hasn't used a sword before, 'specially that one," he calls after me. "For a rook, ya definitely know what yer doin'."

"If I knew what I was doing, I wouldn't be here," I yell back from the bathroom, over the rushing water from the faucet.

"Well considerin' I haven't told ya a thing 'bout short swords yet, you look like ya know yer way 'round one," he shouts back as I gulp down another glassful of water. "'Cept for one thing. Why do ya keep holdin' the practice model backwards?"

I feel a little embarrassed that I can't give him a better answer than, "It just feels better. I don't know why, but it does."

"Ya might wanna do somethin' 'bout that, I'd say," Nikolai replies as I drudge back into the training room. "If it's a bad practice with knives, then it's a _very_ bad practice 'ere."

I slowly pick the practice sword back up off the workbench. It should feel relatively light; Nikolai created it to be comparable to the sword he gave me. I guess I'm still exhausted, though, because it feels like it's made out of lead for all the weight I feel in it right now. Strange, because none of the maneuverability feels like it's departed in the process, and I'm able to quickly switch my grip back and forth on the model's hilt.

"If you wanna carry yer blade 'round backhanded like that, that's fine. But when it comes ta fightin', you'd best be holdin' it like everyone else, aight?" Nikolai emphasizes.

"Okay," I acknowledge. For somebody coaching me in an area of combat, Nikolai is a remarkably laid back coach. He's not aggressive, he's not demeaning, and anything he finds wrong with my technique gets pointed out and constructively criticized. To be perfectly honest, I can't say I was expecting this. I mean, on the passive-to-aggressive scale, I didn't expect him to be on the same level as, say, a Royal Army Drill Sergeant, constantly yelling in my ear as I performed mundane exercise after mundane exercise, never once letting up or offering any sort of morale boost or respite. But then again, he's remarkably forgiving for what mistakes I _am_ making, almost like he wants to me find out myself what I'm doing wrong.

The weirdest part about his entire coaching strategy, though, is that it's _working_. And I think he knows it is too. He's been hiding the faintest of smiles ever since he showed me up here to the residential area of his forge: a one-room style floor, with the sleeping area, living area and kitchen all seamlessly interconnected without walls to separate them. The furnishings are mostly leftover blacksmithing fixtures; the workbench I just picked my sword off of functions as a short-term storage area, akin to the table Ginger and I keep in our living room. We are actually practicing in his living area right now, and once we moved the chairs, workbench and carpeting out of the way, the result was a clean, almost completely vacant hardwood floor. A nearly perfect training arena, at least for our purposes.

I glance back over at him as soon as I familiarize myself with my practice weapon again. "So what did you mean by 'if I'm out of breath...?'"

"Then you know how ta use yer blade proper, aye," Nikolai nods, pointing at my actual blade on the workbench. "Yer sword there's a light weapon, no other way 'bout it. And when you were swingin' at me with the blunt, you weren't after power. You were attackin' fast, usin' the blade's properties ta yer 'vantage. That's good."

He stands back up from the bench and stretches his arm a bit. "Only problem, ya went and got yerself all tired out by the time I called it. So we need ta work on that as well."

I nod obediently and inspect the trainer for a few seconds. Nikolai continues talking. "Though I'll say this: for someone who doesn't have much trainin' with swords, ya do a great job coverin' it up."

"What do you mean by that?" I reply, waving the trainer in the air, giving it a few practice swings.

"You say yer a beginner, but ta me, you fight like you've been doin' this for a while. For the most part, anyways."

"I'm still a rookie, Nik. Even if I look like I'm not..."

"That's irrelevant, Jin. The important part's that yer lookin' to get better at somethin'. And for a good cause."

I peer back up at him. He's grinning with esteem. "Yer parents woulda been proud o' ya, son," he tells me, raising his hand to the hilt of the sword on his back.

I don't respond immediately. Thoughts of the parents crash back through my head like a tidal wave onto a beachfront. Memories, stories, everything about them up to last week rushes into my head. I'd feel like the jolt is too much on another day, and I'd just be overwhelmed by the surge. But I feel more at ease as Nikolai says that. Is it because they would be? I'm honestly not sure; frankly I didn't have a ton of interest in the art of the sword until Nikolai made one for me that day. And even then, it's likely I wouldn't have acted on that interest without the Royal Army occupation.

The more I try to convince myself I'm not trying to be a resistance fighter or anything like that, the more I end up contradicting myself, because that's exactly what Nikolai and I are training to become. I'm honestly not certain what the parents would have to think about that one. I know my mom in particular was mostly pacifist, and my dad might have been a strongman but even then he didn't like fighting where he could avoid it. Me, I'm actively building myself up because I want to be ready to fight. But, just like Nik said, I'm doing it because it's what's right. I'm not actively searching for trouble either. I just want to be there for Ginger.

"Yeah," I finally say. There's a little bit of doubt in my tone that I can't quite mask fully, but I force my words through it anyways. "Yeah, I think they would too."

* * *

I go a few more rounds with Nikolai, until Fidget flies up the stairs and tells us it's five o'clock and I realize Ginger's probably going to kick in the door to the forge at any moment now looking for me. I quickly gather up my things - my blade, my jacket, a banana from out of Nikolai's kitchen area - and jog back down the stairs to take my leave. Both he and Fidget follow me down the stairs as I throw my jacket back on.

"Back 'ere at eleven sharp, aight?" Nikolai reminds me. "And make sure yer arm doesn't give out in the meantime. Ya worked it a lot today."

"Right," I tell him as I get ready to show myself out the door.

Fidget casually flies over to me, hovering at about head height next to the door. "I think I'm gonna get some fresh air too before the sun goes down."

Nikolai gives a nod in our direction. "I crack the door for ya."

"This late in the evening, Nik?" I reply. "You think that's safe?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," the nimbat shrugs. "I mean, have you seen him angrily chase people before? He's scary! And likes throwing things. And people. Particularly into other things."

"If I see any veggie carts nearby, I'll put 'em through one just for you."

"We'll see you tomorrow, Nik!" I say to him as I push the door open and let Fidget outside, followed by myself. I smirk a little bit at the nimbat as she flies alongside me, and she needs a couple seconds before she says anything about it.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!"

"You needed some fresh air, eh, Fidget?" I skeptically ask her.

"Yeah, I did! You've ever been in a building like that for a prolonged period of time?"

"Yes, because that is how a lot of people here tend to live. You...kind of live in the middle of a forest."

"Hey, even that gets boring after a while. And...well..."

Fidget flaps over to my shoulder and sits down on it, similar to the way a parrot would sit on a pirate's. "I don't know. I just kinda like being with you."

That gets a small laugh out of me for some reason. "Fidget, there's nothing wrong in saying I'm a friend. Everybody makes them."

"I have friends!" she promptly defends. "But, I usually don't make them this quickly."

She leans against my head and reclines on my shoulder even more. "You're like the first honestly good person I've met in a long time. And what you're doing for your sister? It's...kinda awesome."

I'm speechless for a moment. I don't think I've ever had anyone say that to me before, let alone somebody like Fidget. I just have to take time to think on that, and the conversation goes stale after a while. Fidget is still propped against my shoulder as I continue to stroll down the street home, lazily but comfortably enjoying the ride.

I slowly reach my hand up behind her head, and gently scratch her behind the ear. "I appreciate you thinking that, Fidget," I softly tell her. "Thank you."

The nimbat moans a bit in response before talking again. "I'm not a pet, Jin."

I immediately back my hand off, like I had placed it on a stovetop. "Oh, sorry," I reply. "Should I stop?"

She's quiet for a couple seconds. "Nah. Keep doing it," she requests. And my hand promptly complies as I continue taking the two of us back to the house.

A few silent but golden minutes pass us by, and I finally see the house approaching from around the bend. I'm considering having Fidget stay for dinner. She and Ginger would probably hit it right off, though I suspect the reason might not be much deeper than "Fidget is cute and fluffy and Ginger has an affinity for those particular traits."

Regardless, I'm glad the nimbat is with me. I'm glad that I have a new friend. Even if we did meet entirely by accident and as a direct consequence of Nikolai's retrospectively amusing reaction to her breaking into his house. Then again, I guess it's hard to have friends you _don't_ meet by accident to begin with.

In that case, I'm glad that accident this morning happened to be Fidget.

Out of incidence, I peer past the house, towards the one a little bit further down the street. Not so close to the point where they would be called our next-door neighbors, but Ginger and I at least know who they are. Right now, there's a sea of blue-dyed armor standing in front of their house, with a singular black-clad entity standing at the door and presumably asking them a few things.

The man inside does not look pleased at all. "...don't know why you keep asking me these things. I told you everything I have right now!" I can hear him barking at Cassius right now.

Fidget raises her head off of my hand and looks down the street with me. "What's all the commotion?"

"Dewitt's giving Cassius a piece of his mind it sounds like," I inform her.

She curls up, hugging her lower legs with her front paws. "I don't like him," she bluntly replies.

_Yeah, you and everyone else._ "You can head back to Nik's if you want. If he makes you uncomfortable."

"That's your house next to him, isn't it?" the nimbat mumbles cynically.

"It unfortunately is."

Fidget takes off from my shoulder and hovers off to my side. "I think I'm going to go before I eat his face."

"Sorry, what?" I ask, unsure of if I heard that excuse correctly.

"Nothing, nothing," Fidget innocently answers. "Just saying, if you bump into him tomorrow, and his face is gone for some strange, unexplored reason..."

"Good night, Fidget. I'll see you tomorrow," I wave to the nimbat before she turns around and flies away back down the street. She probably wouldn't have wanted to stay with me anyways. Now that Cassius is close, I actually have new business with the commanding officer. I'm not going to enjoy it; I can tell that straight away. The quality of my life at the moment varies inversely with the number of times I see Cassius in a certain length of time.

But I have to put that behind me. At least for now. Because as much as I hate him, and as much as he wants to find a way to condemn the entire town, I think I need him. It's been on my mind ever since Nikolai dismissed me from the forge.

It's my parents again. I never found out the details of what happened that night. Who was in that scouting party. Why they were struck down. I haven't told Ginger, but it has been on my mind ever since Nikolai gave us the news. We're the kids. The survivors. We have a right to know exactly how they died.

And if Nikolai's words are true, that a Royal Army patrol got to them, who better to talk to than one of the highest ranking soldiers in the corps? I take a deep breath in, glance over at my house, and tell myself that I can go there as soon as I talk to Cassius. I start walking towards him.

Dewitt is still yelling at the soldiers and their leader, though I must have missed a good minute or two of his lecture lost in thought. He finally pauses for a brief moment to allow Cassius a rebuttal. "Mr. Dewitt, I understand you're a busy man, and I intend to let you go as quickly as possible, but I can assure you this will go by much more smoothly if you calm down and..."

"Calm down and what? Answer fifteen more questions that I already answered before? As quickly as possible, hah! If I didn't know better I'd say you're intentionally wasting my time!"

"As are you mine, I'm starting to think," Cassius calmly but angrily retorts with a tip of his hat. "Good day, Mr. Dewitt. Perhaps you'll feel a bit more cooperative tomorrow."

"I'm certain I won't with you around," Dewitt spouts off one last insult before slamming the door shut. Cassius just stares at it for a second before about facing and passing through the four-man patrol accompanying him.

He turns his head to the left and notices me in the middle of the street. He looks over his shoulder at the door again, and then back to me. "Did I cause a disturbance?" he asks professionally.

"Uh, no sir," I stiffly reply. "You'll have to forgive Dewitt, he's almost invariably like that." _Invariably? Really, Jin? Relax, get your nerves straight, and stop talking like Sereth._

"I think we'd do well to keep that in mind next time," Cassius sighs as he takes out his pocket watch. "And he's put us well behind schedule as a result, it appears."

"Sir, we need to keep moving," one of the escorts notes.

"That we do," the commander blankly agrees as he claps the watch shut and marches past me. "If you'd excuse us, Jin."

I'm actually a little impressed he remembers my name. But that's not what I need to focus on at the moment. "Uh, actually, Commander," I try to get his attention. I personally think that attempt was a little feeble, but it gets Cassius to stop and look back at me.

"Yes?"

I softly clear my throat. "If it wouldn't be much trouble, sir, could I make a request?"

Another soldier pipes up instead. "Sir, we don't have time for this. You said it yourself, we're..."

"As admirable as your punctuality is, _Sergeant_, I think I can decide for myself what questions I do and don't answer," Cassius sharply interrupts him. I can just make out a penetrating glare from under his hat, directed squarely at the outspoken soldier.

"You will not speak for me again," the commander orders, with that same unnerving coolness he had used with Dewitt. "Have I made myself plain?"

The soldier takes a small step backwards. "Yes sir," he quietly answers. "Yes sir, you have."

Cassius leers at his subordinate for another second or two, then returns to me. "Now what can I do for you, Jin?" he asks. His tone hasn't shifted much if at all, but the sharpness present just a few moments ago has dissipated.

"I don't know if you'd be the right person to ask this to, but would you happen to know anything else about my parents?"

He relaxes his stance, spreading his feet and crossing his arms. "Regarding what, exactly?"

"Their deaths, sir. I don't know much about them apart from..." I catch myself just before I say anything about the military's involvement. Cassius tilts his head curiously as I restart.

"Ginger and I just didn't have time to look any further into it once we got the news," I correct myself.

"I see," Cassius responds. "How much do you know about that caravan incident?"

He's going to make me lie again. _Easy, Jin. You did it before. Just do what comes naturally._

"To be honest, sir, I didn't even know there was one going out to begin with. The parents were gone when I woke up, and by the time I figured out they were running supplies..." I intentionally trail my sentence off.

Cassius pulls the pocket watch out of his uniform again. "I understand," he replies, to my slight surprise.

"Sorry, sir?"

"As I stated earlier, we are behind track at present. But the least I can do for you is help determine how your parents died."

"So, you can help me?"

"I suspect we will be back at our camp at about eight. Fifteen past at the latest. Do you know where we're set up?"

I almost say "yes," but then stop myself once I realize I wouldn't have a good reason why. "I think you're on the northern face, right?"

"Yes, there's a small dirt path on the east edge of town. Just follow it down and we'll be on the right."

"Yes, sir," I stammer. "Thank you, sir."

He turns to the two soldiers on his left. "Send word to the watch there, if you would. I expect company. Return as soon as it's done." The both of them nod and jog down the road to send the message.

The commander closes the watch and replaces it. "In the meantime, Jin, I must depart. But I'd be lying if I said you haven't renewed my interest in this matter."

"Understood, sir," I answer back. "And thank you again."

"Eight-fifteen," he blankly reminds me with a tug on his hat and a flick of his cape, as he briskly marches down the road with the rest of his escort. "Good evening."

* * *

Note From the Author

Hello everyone, and again thank you so much for reading and supporting the story! We're approaching the 350 view marker at the time of this posting, and I take that as a sign that this story is doing pretty well for a month and a half on the internet. So again, thanks for reading, and make sure you follow to keep up to speed with the new chapters.

On the topic of new chapters, I'm going to take this next week off. If you've ever been to college, you know that finals week is a rough one, and I need the time to sit down and get myself ready for my exams. So I appreciate your patience with me and the story as I get it worked out, and I promise I'll put up the new stuff as soon as I can. This will almost certainly be the only time I break from my weekly update schedule, before any panic ensues.

Once more, thanks for being patient as I get through the upcoming week, and I hope you've been enjoying the story so far!

Cheers,

WS


	9. Unraveling

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 9

Unraveling

"How do you feel?"

"Tired. Just tired," I reply with a heavy exhale. I'm not exaggerating when I say that. Everything about me is tired at the moment. My body's exhausted from my time with Nikolai working on my fighting, and right now my mind's fried and still fretting about how in the world I'm going to handle my appointment with Cassius.

My sister shuttles two mugs of cocoa into the living room, where I've fallen down onto the sofa. "Nik didn't push you too hard, did he?" she sweetly asks.

"Nah, he didn't do anything," I grunt as I sit myself up and accept the mug Ginger hands over to me. I immediately take a moderately long drink from it as Ginger takes the seat next to me on the couch.

"Then what's been going on, Jin?" she continues. She's been asking questions ever since I came in from the street. I guess she's just worried about me. Frankly, I can't blame her. Even I have to admit I look and feel drained at the moment. And there is exactly one reason why.

For a second I forget to swallow my drink before it scorches the inside of my mouth, and promptly take care of that before I say anything back. Some part of me wants to keep my meeting with Cassius a secret. I feel all but certain that Ginger is going to protest this in some way, that I might be overstepping myself. In honesty, I can't blame her. Even in my book this feels a little ambitious, like I'm taking a gamble of some sort.

_You're not gambling anything. You asked a question, you got an answer, and now you're going to act on it. What's the problem here?_

Does that question even need an answer? I'm walking into the lion's den. Cassius is waiting for me, along with the entire division of soldiers that followed him up here. And what does Cassius even know about the village? About what we've been doing? About what _I've_ been doing? There are only so many times I can dance around the town's secret with him, and I have to be coming very close to that limit right now.

Speaking of which, even if it's just been a day, I have no idea what Fuse's camp is going through right now. If they've been made, if someone's seen them, if the Royal Army caught someone running down there. No idea at all.

_Focus, Jin! That's not important! You asked about your parents, and that's what you're going to get. Cassius can wait for later._

I peer down at the mug, at the warm chocolate and slowly liquefying marshmallows resting on the surface. I hate it when my mind takes thoughts and runs with them like that.

Ginger needs to know what's going on first. "I bumped into Cassius again," I inform after another sip of cocoa.

She sighs and rolls her eyes a bit. "What's he up to this time?"

"Got chewed out by Dewitt next door," I answer with a slight grin.

"And you didn't tell me either. You horrible, horrible brother, you," she snickers as she takes a quick drink.

I lean forward towards the table and set the mug down. "I...asked him about the parents, too," I quietly add, maybe hoping I could slip it past Ginger without her noticing.

_Yeah, not going to happen._ She turns her head curiously to me. "What about them?"

"Nikolai mentioned that a Royal scouting party found the caravan and ransacked it that day, right? Maybe Cassius knows something about that."

She leers at me. "You're going to spy on him?"

"Does it count as spying if he invites me to his camp and lets me look through his files anyways?"

She puts a hand on her forehead. "I swear, we talked about this earlier this morning," she mutters.

"Ginger, it's fine," I'm quick to respond. "He's just going to look over some papers with me. Heck, for all we know, maybe Nikolai was wrong and..."

She sets her mug down as well, and clatter of the ceramic on wood cuts me off for the moment. "You don't need to justify that, Jin. Because this is the right thing to do."

I'm honestly a little surprised by that reaction. I seriously thought she'd have a few more objections to me entering a military camp to look at what are essentially classified documents. Especially considering we're at odds with them, and especially considering my escort is their leader, who arguably knows more than he's willing to show us.

She leans back onto the back of the sofa. "I still don't like that you're going to be at that camp, though."

"I'm not going to be long at all, Ginger. Cassius is just going to show me his report, I'll take a look around, and that'll be it. But we have a right to know what happened that day."

"What if Nikolai was right? The military did kill them?"

Cassius does not deserve benefit of the doubt in any way at all, but I have to give it to him this time. "Maybe this is like when he first came to talk to us. He wants to keep this private because it only involves us."

"And he'd be willing to just turn that over to you?" Ginger asks dubiously. "He works for Gaius. He hates everything Moonblood related. If he knows what we've been doing, then why would he help us out like this?"

I can only give a reluctant grin back. "Ginger, I don't like Cassius either. I don't think anyone here does. But I don't think he's cruel enough to deny me information like how my own parents died, even if it was at the army's hands."

She shakes her head slowly. "I still don't like this, Jin."

I inch myself closer to her and put an arm over her shoulder. "I promise I'll come right back, alright? Cassius isn't going to hurt me over something like this."

"You don't know that."

"I'll have my blade with me if things go sour, okay? But I'm going to come right back home once I'm done there."

She looks over at me again. I've seen those deep, mystifying blue eyes gaze into me before, but never quite like this. They feel pristine, pure, like a perfectly clear lake on a cloudless day. Out of all the times she's overtaken me with those wonderful eyes of hers, this is the most intense I've ever seen them.

"Just be safe, Jin," she quietly demands. "You know I worry about you when you're out doing things like this."

Without hesitation, I nod and grin slightly. "I think I can do that," I tell her. She rolls onto me and starts squeezing my body near the bottom of the ribcage. She's not concerned this time, or at least I don't think she is. She's just hugging onto me, with a comfortable, secure smile on her face.

I put my second arm around her, and she rests her head on the side of my shoulder.

"I'll always be with you," I remind her as she pulls me slightly closer to her.

* * *

Dinner tonight is shrimp noodles and a virulently spicy salad Ginger may have overdone on the dressing front. Still though, I won't fault my sister's cooking; she does a far better job than I probably ever would. At least I can help her clear the table once dinner's over, and she tells me she's headed upstairs for the night once cleanup is done.

"This early?" I ask skeptically as I wash out one of the pots in the sink. "It's only, what, six-fifteen?"

"I don't know," she responds with a shrug. "I just feel a little...out of it this evening."

"Just to be clear, this doesn't have anything to do with..."

She smiles faintly and shakes her head no. "I'm done stressing over that. You're right, you'll be fine."

"Then why don't you let me finish cleaning up here and you can go get some rest, alright?" I offer up, motioning to the rest of the dishes. "I can handle the rest of this."

"You're sure? This is usually..."

"If you're tired, go do something about it," I insist as I grab the dishtowel off to my right and dry off the pot. "I think it's about time I did something to help you out around here anyways."

I get a small laugh out of her as I say that. Victory is mine. "Just don't forget about Cassius, okay? He doesn't look like the guy who likes waiting."

"Trust me, I haven't," I moan as she hugs me from behind. "Good night, Ginger."

"Night, Jin," she replies, and after another small second she releases me and scampers away out the kitchen door and upstairs to her room.

* * *

There's not much to do once I have all the dishes cleaned off and drying, so I spend an hour or so whacking away at imaginary dummies with my sword, coaching myself as I practice each technique. I try to keep my mind as clear as I can manage. What is Cassius going to do? What sort of things will he be willing to show me? What is he going to hide? Should I even try being intrusive?

I block out every one of those questions as I continue dancing with my sword in the living room. Each swing, each riposte comes to me fluidly, like a professional fighter warming up for his big match. I may have only one good training session with Nikolai, far from ample experience, but the confidence is with me, like I've been doing this for much longer than I really have. Maybe this was what Nikolai was talking about earlier. It feels...exhilarating.

My combo is cut off as the clock in the kitchen chimes quarter to eight, and I peer outside the window. Not much is left of the sun; it has long since ducked behind the horizon and the very few stray beams are the only things keeping the night sky from completely blacking out the town. No stars out tonight; they're likely hidden by the storm clouds above, waiting for the inevitable midnight monsoon to pass before they peek out.

I stand alone in the living room for a few more minutes, then sigh and look down at the blade in my hands. I almost ask myself if it's a good idea to bring it with me, until I realize what a silly question that is and immediately slide it into its sheath on my side. Cassius is only helping me this once, and even then I feel like he's not really going to do that much. In fact, I'm certainly going to be the only villager in the camp anyways. I'll be in a prime position to get ambushed.

_Stop worrying about what can go wrong, smart one. Focus on the job._

Right, the job. My parents. If what Nikolai said that day was right, then it'd have to be written down somewhere. Royal Army loves their lists. Not to mention Cassius said he had new motivation to look into this. He'd assuredly find something noteworthy either while I'm over there or even before I arrive.

_You know, Jin. You might have been a little hard on Cassius. I mean, he's still out to get the town and everything, but at least he's willing to help you find out who killed..._

I then have an almost pulse-stopping thought. What if Cassius _was_ involved? What if he was coordinating the scouting party that day? Worse still, what if he was actually _leading_ the party?

What if he is the reason my parents are gone?

_Stop that!_ I yell at myself. _Stop that right now! You don't know any more about Cassius than he does about you!_

My stomach feels sick. I don't want to think about possibly collaborating with my parents' murderer. It would have to be a trap then, wouldn't it? Is that why he was so calm when he offered to help me?

That would mean I'm next on the list, aren't I?

_Jin!_

The blank silence of the still night outside coupled with the noiselessness of the living room is all I can hear. It's all I want to hear right now. I just stand in the middle of the room, the clock on the wall quietly ticking away, counting down the seconds until I need to leave.

I slowly look down at the blade on my belt. I yank my coat over it and turn to go upstairs. I hope Ginger's still awake. She needs to know what's on my mind. She must have thought the same things I just did at some point. It isn't like Cassius is completely free from the suspicion. She probably thought he knows more about our parents than he told us that day. They might be traitors according to him, but we both know who the real one is.

I finish climbing the stairs and turn to the door on the left side of the hallway. It's closed, but not completely shut. Ginger likes to keep the door cracked like this every once in a while. I knock softly on it a couple times and then gently push it open. The iron hinges squeak quietly as they open up the room, and reveal Ginger sleeping on her bed, back to me, wearing comfortable pants and a sleeveless shirt. On her bedside, a single candlestick, providing just enough light in the room to see the surroundings without becoming a nuisance.

She must have been resting long before I got up here, probably since I dismissed her from the kitchen come to think of it. I'm not going to bother her, not right now, and I turn back to the hallway, pulling the doorknob behind me...

I pause, and think about the parents again. Slowly, I turn back to her room and silently reenter it.

I quietly walk up to her bed. For a minute, I just watch her sleep. Peacefully. Serenely.

I put my first two fingers and my thumb to my tongue and pinch the wick on the candle. "Good night, Ginger," I quietly whisper as the light vanishes and her room goes perfectly dark.

"I _will_ make things right."

* * *

"Hold...how many more times are we going to see you, boy?" one of the two camp guards asks as I draw closer to the torch-riddled entrance to the camp. His face is shrouded by night, the brazier out front doing a less than proficient job at illuminating his visage. But he does sound a lot like the guard from yesterday, and given his initial demeanor towards me, it wouldn't be that surprising.

"I'm actually here by invitation of Commander Cassius. Is he available?" I explain myself.

"He's in his tent right now, actually," the guard's partner explains off to my right. "What's the occasion?"

I'm about to elaborate a little bit, but a chilling, neutral voice from behind the guards answers for me instead. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Corporal," Cassius cuts in from the shadows. I try to avoid looking too skeptically at him; even in the dead of night he's still wearing that hat, even though there's no sun to protect his eyes from.

He turns his head to me slightly. "Jin," he identifies me.

"Commander," I reply back.

He extends his back arm to invite me inside. "Do come in," he orders. The guard on my right immediately backpedals away from the entrance to the camp, as does the left a second or two later, and I reluctantly follow Cassius as he navigates the camp. It's structured eerily similar to Fuse's camp further down the mountain; there's a whole network of alleyways bordered on all sides by tents and living quarters, and the main path Cassius and I are on leads directly to a large, open courtyard with a general supplier's tent off to the right. It's a little frightening to be honest. I feel like Fuse could come up here, hijack a military uniform for everyone in his clan, and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between his camp and Cassius'.

I continue to proceed down the path, past a few small groups of soldiers. A few of them seem to stare at me as I walk past them, like they know who I am. I defiantly stare back at them, unwilling to let myself get any more intimidated tonight.

"You'll forgive a few of the recruits," the commander talks over his shoulder. "They can be very untrusting at times."

"I think their doubts are warranted this time around," I reply. "Am I the first one to visit your camp like this, sir?"

"Not at all," Cassius returns as he takes a left turn down a side path. "You're just the first to be escorted by me."

I almost forget to turn down the same path as him for a second, and pick up my pace a bit to close the distance. "If I could ask, sir, what sort of information do you have?" I ask before I immediately start to regret saying that.

Cassius turns over his shoulder, leering at me from under his hat. "Pertaining to what?" he coldly demands.

_Too aggressive a question, Jin. Back it off._ "I-I meant in regards to the town. If there's anything relating my parents to what you have, maybe," I clumsily justify.

I can hear Cassius heavily exhale through his nose. "Be careful asking things like that aloud," he sharply warns. "You don't have the best of reputations here in the first place."

"S-sorry," I stammer. _You're forgetting something._ "Sir," I hastily add on.

He turns back and continues forward, his ornate tent resting just ahead. "To address that question, however, I did receive a few documents containing basic information about your town. Geography, demographics, history, it's comprehensive by my standards."

He reaches an arm out to the front flaps of the tent, pulls one to the side and invites me in. "But if there is anything to find regarding your parents' fate, then I can assist you in finding it."

I duck under the flap and enter the tent. I suspected it'd be large just considering how massive it appeared from outside, but for some reason it feels larger once I actually step inside. Everything about the tent oozes Royal Army: the highly decorative desk directly across from me towards the back, the multiple wood and iron chests placed against the interior walls. In fact, the only thing that doesn't look like it was ripped straight out of the palace itself would be Cassius' sleeping area, consisting of a standard issue cot and yet another trunk underneath, presumably for clothes and toiletries.

The commander brushes past me and heads straight for his desk, pausing only for a small second to remove his hat and toss it on top of his cot. "So, let's get this over with, shall we?" he blankly asks as he unlocks a trunk and starts rifling about in it.

"Uh, yes sir," I reply, and I start looking around for a spot to sit. I end up just leaning on the desk after failing to find one.

Cassius stands back up after a moment and closes the trunk with his foot, his arms full with multiple papers salvaged from his dig. "That's...what you have on the town?" I inquire as he walks around to the other side of his desk.

"Every last note and scrap of it," Cassius sighs as he drops the documents onto his bureau, letting them impact with a weighty _thud_. "His Majesty and General Gaius spared no expense in finding me what I needed."

"So I see," I lightheartedly return as I peel off the first three documents or so from the stack. "So where do you think we should start?"

Cassius hums a bit then pushes off the top third or so of the paper pile. "If your parents are susceptible to be Moonblood sympathizers, then perhaps some recent merchant records would..."

He doesn't get any farther than that, because another cloth rustle of the tent flaps gets his attention. He leans to his right to look around me, and I turn towards the front of the tent as well.

The soldier standing there waits for a second before speaking up. "Is this a bad time, sir?"

"Amazingly, Corporal," the commander hisses. "What is it?"

"Your informant's returned, sir. They want to talk to you."

Cassius raises an eyebrow. "And their business?"

"Wouldn't say. They just came in and made their demands."

"Not leaving, I presume?"

"Staunchly refusing, I think would be more accurate, sir."

I swear I hear Cassius growl contemptuously as he stomps past me and towards the soldier. "Jin, I shall leave you here for now," he informs me. "You've my implicit trust for the moment; you'd do well not to squander it in my absence."

"Yes, sir," I rigidly answer.

"I doubt this will take long," he adds as he marches past the corporal and the tent flaps fall closed again.

Silence for a few seconds, then arguably the heaviest sigh I've ever thrown flies out of my mouth. How in the world I managed to keep my composure during that is a mystery I'll probably never be able to solve. Since when did Cassius have an informant? And who would it be? Someone from the village? No, couldn't be. Everyone there is anti-Gaius in the most radical way there is. Then someone from outside? Maybe near the capital?

Actually, what does that matter at the moment? That disruption might be inopportune for Cassius, but it leaves me here alone. With information.

A _lot_ of information. Not limited to the stuff plopped on his desk.

I feel hungry. But I'm not in the mood for food. I have no idea where this rush came from or why I'm so eager to start snooping around Cassius' tent, but something keeps pushing me to find something useful to me. The thrill of the hunt? A chance to get my hands on something incriminating? There are both many and no explanations for it. All I know is that I can't let this chance go to waste.

I survey the room a little bit more closely. The trunks against the walls are locked up, much like the one Cassius just dug all of those papers out of. They probably hold only military relevant information, if I have to guess.

The desk, then? I vault over it to the other side, indirectly scattering a few papers to the ground in the meantime, and start yanking open every drawer I can find. The two on the left are first. Writing utensils, paper, requisition slips.

Worthless.

The top one on the right. Whetstone, handkerchief, sharpsword oil that I can tell straight away is inferior quality to Sereth's.

Not interesting.

The one on the bottom. Light reading material, backup uniform for some reason...

There's an envelope near the back of the drawer. The mailing address is face up as I peruse the drawer's contents, and Gaius' name is on it. Cassius' superior. This has to be the marching orders. I quickly snatch it up and slam the drawer shut, then, taking care not to harm the letter, I unfold the envelope and remove the parchment inside.

* * *

_Gaius,_

_This will be my final correspondence with you or any of your men, as I am about to reveal what will be the extent of my intelligence regarding your goals. I will assume that my standard fee will be adequate compensation, as per usual. I would like it received before you act on anything that follows._

_ One of the final Moonblood infested towns lies to the north, in the Blackmoor Mountains. Closer to the peak, you will find the village of Zeplich, a cesspool of countless traitors and sympathizers, so loyal to our enemy that I can't put the right words onto this paper in honesty. I've covertly visited this town about a month ago, and discovered that regular supply caravans, as well as travelling merchants and traders, visit the nearby Moonblood encampment on a very frequent basis._

_ I'm certain you will take the proper steps necessary to resolve this issue and see that justice is done. I look forward to hearing how this goes._

_Happy hunting,_

_Kane_

* * *

I shudder. My breathing goes shallow and rapid.

The town's doomed. And Cassius knew it all along. He's just messing with us. And he has to be winding up for the knockout punch any moment now.

_Then why would he be investigating us?_ I ask myself. _This is second, no, thirdhand information. For all you know, he's still as clueless as you think he is._

Right. If he knew that we were traitors all along then he would have done something by this point. He needs evidence, something that directly links us to Fuse's clan. And everyone in the town has been playing their cards right, he shouldn't have any.

With care, I tuck the letter back into the envelope. But it's not fitting in. I remove it and jam it back in, with a bit more force. Still nothing. It's getting caught on something inside.

I flip the envelope upside down and push on the edges. The letter slides out and glides onto the desk and the hodgepodge of papers Cassius left. A smaller, square-folded piece of parchment tumbles out as well.

_There's the culprit,_ I tell myself as I pick up the paper. The color is a moderately deep brown, strikingly similar to the color of paper Sereth likes to use for receipts. The corners of the paper are bent and worn down on the folds as well, especially the inside one. The thickness looks a little thin as well, like it's been compressed, like it's been in someone's pocket...

I just stare at the paper square for a minute. A very long, terrified minute. Then I immediately start unfolding it.

_There's no way,_ I keep telling myself, refusing to believe what I'm seeing. _This can't be it._

Except it is.

It's the receipt from this morning. The note from Sereth. The one saying that he received the foodstuffs from The Eagle &amp; Avee last night.

_How is this possible? This got burnt!_

"Jin..." a wavering voice quietly speaks from in front of me.

Slowly, with a painful mixture of rage, shock and helplessness, I peer up. Marcia is standing in front of the desk, her hands tied behind her back, Cassius standing off to her side, his long, slender blade ramming up against her neck.

"I...I'm so sorry..." she whimpers, a tear rolling out of her right eye and onto the sword.


	10. Paradise Lost

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 10

Paradise Lost

"Marcia..."

"I didn't want to, Jin," she sniffles, wincing at the cold steel forcing itself against her throat. "He...he was..."

"What the hell did you do?" I bark furiously. I'm not sure if I mean to direct that question at Marcia or Cassius, but I suppose it could be applicable to either of them.

Marcia sharply inhales as Cassius feints an attack to slice her neck. "Be mindful of your tone, boy," he snarls threateningly.

I tighten my grip around the receipt, crinkling it in my fist as I shake it towards the innkeeper. "Marcia, why does he have this?" I demand.

"I had to!" she desperately weeps. "He...took Roscoe when he came to the inn last night. He was going to kill him if I didn't spy for him. I..."

She struggles for air for a moment. I glare at the person behind her. "You knew what were up to all along, didn't you?"

"Yes, I'm afraid," Cassius monotonously, blank facedly replies. "But just knowing doesn't quite cut it here. We needed something more...substantial."

"He blackmailed me, Jin. I didn't want to do it, but...Roscoe..." she chokes on her words. "He was onto us from the start. He knew about the job I sent you on, and he wanted the evidence..."

She heavily breathes in and out twice. "He wouldn't give back Roscoe until I found it..." She sniffles again, and then glares at Cassius out of the corner of her eye. "And this bastard won't give him back!" she shouts fervently. She'd probably fight back, do something, anything against her captor, but all three of us know she's helpless at the moment.

I brush away part of my jacket to unveil my sword, but Marcia immediately screams as Cassius puts more pressure onto the blade. "I would not advise that, Jin," the commander states in a serpentine whisper, then points to his desk. "In fact, I'd suggest you remove your blade and set it down for now."

The arrogant half of my personality gets the better of me. "Make me."

Cassius slowly pulls his sword hand back. Marcia yells in pain, and a small red trickle starts to flow out of the side of her neck.

_You moron!_ "Alright, alright!" I exclaim, my hands immediately jumping into the air, and then back down to my belt. "Just don't hurt her!"

"Then put your sword on my desk. Now."

I immediately unclip the sheath and toss it away from me, sending it clattering onto the commander's bureau. The sword backs off, and Marcia finally starts breathing again, her panicked respirations the only noise in the tent for now.

Cassius shuts his eyes and takes a slow, deep meditative breath, completely opposite to Marcia's breathing pattern at the time. "Now, let's all calm down for a moment," he requests. "This is not as grave a situation as you would think."

Marcia's composure finally returns to her, but her eyes are still frightfully looking over her shoulder at Cassius' cold, unforgiving stare.

The commander continues talking. "This is actually ideal, now that I think on it. Marcia has defected and provided us crucial evidence to our investigation, and you, Jin, have just now surrendered to us and practically verified our suspicions."

_ Because you needed me to do that._ I'm lucky that sentence stays inside my head.

"You have done me and your race a great service, and it's only fair you're compensated accordingly," he flatly adds. Then he brings his sword behind Marcia and, to my surprise as well as hers, starts cutting the rope binding her hands together.

"Miss Marcia, we shall begin with you," he states as he finishes slicing through the rope. Marcia grabs one of her wrists, gingerly rubbing it in an effort to assuage the rope chafing.

Meanwhile, Cassius digs a dark cloth out of his uniform's pocket and uses it to wipe his blade off, removing the crimson edge from the surface. "First, your cousin. I'm sure you'll be happy to see each other again."

"Where are you keeping him?" she quietly growls.

Cassius doesn't respond right away, and instead continues to clean off his sword.

Marcia turns around to face the commander. "Cassius? Where's Roscoe?" she repeats, much more angrily.

The commander pulls the cloth away and holds it against the torchlight in the tent, inspecting it to make sure the blood is completely gone.

"_Where is he?!_" Marcia boomingly, furiously demands.

Cassius pauses for just a moment more before replying.

"The Life Thread."

My spine freezes.

He glares at Marcia.

Her eyes go skeptical, and then shocked.

And, almost like the next second of my life never happened, I see Cassius' glistening, polished steel blade, wet again with blood, fully run through Marcia's abdomen, all the way to the hilt.

I don't know how long Cassius holds his sword there for, and I don't want to know either. All I know is that, after what feels like a painful eternity, I see him yank it out again, and the innkeeper falls to her knees, her hands weakly pressing against the wound. She stares back up at Cassius for a brief moment, like she's silently praying for him not to do this.

The response never comes. And Cassius stoically, almost gracefully, flips the blade over in his hand and runs it into her again, impaling her just above the collarbone.

The last thing I see her do is raise her hands slightly, towards the sword, until a moment later, when they fall limply back to her sides.

And only then does Cassius retract his blade again. Marcia's body falls backwards onto her feet. He pulls the black cloth out of his pocket again.

"How unfortunate."

And I snap. All of a sudden I'm watching a play, experiencing the main character's actions in first person. I'm not in control of him, nor can I say or do anything to change how he's about to act. It's useless to act against it; all I can do is just watch.

It starts with me breaking my surrender and grabbing the hilt of my sword on the desk. I feel my legs starting to mantle the desk as well, and somehow they coordinate themselves to step on the sheath as they climb up, allowing me to pull the blade out with one hand and raise it over my head. Like a springboard I leap off the edge of the desk and above Cassius, ready to slice him in half lengthwise.

"_You bastard!_" I hear myself shriek. Cassius isn't even looking at me; he's still wiping off his blade. I feel a small adrenaline surge, as I start to think I'm going to connect...

There's a small flash of light, and then three things happen at once it feels like: an ear-piercingly sharp _twing_ noise, a jolt of pain across the front half of my body, and the sight of my sword's blade twirling across the tent and sticking itself into one of the crates.

I collapse onto the ground chest first. With effort, I manage to look at my hands, sprawled out in front of me, and despair as I see my sword has been bisected, leaving me with the hilt and a jagged two or three inch long fragment of what the blade used to be. I look further up. Cassius is holding his sword like he just swung it in my direction.

I try to push off of the ground, but the pain in my chest fires up again, and I can only get myself up a few inches, just enough to see the front of my shirt had been cut through from the bottom left to the top right. I can feel the cloth get colder against my body as it tries its best to stymie the blood loss.

"I don't believe you'll die from that."

He walks over to me and crouches down, the sword that slew Marcia resting on his lap like a pet.

That only makes me more furious. "Why did you kill her?" I angrily demand from under my breath.

"I think we both know the answer to that question."

"She was innocent!" I yell back, then immediately wince as Cassius flicks his blade underneath my chin.

"_Nobody_ is innocent tonight," he softly, blankly informs me. "You provided me the evidence that proves that. Your family, your friends, your whole town, is guilty."

He spins the sword around in his hand again and stands up. I can only see the bottom half of his legs now. "And now it comes to me to ensure this happens no more."

I growl with reserved anger. "If you so much as touch Ginger..." I start to threat.

I hear him sigh, almost with exasperation. "Please, Jin. I've no intentions of killing you or your sister."

He marches over to his cot, and my eyes follow him. I see a hand reach down for his hat and pick it up.

"For now, at any rate," he sinisterly adds.

I almost enrage a second time. "What the hell do you..."

A soldier barges in on me. And I don't have the energy to raise my voice over his. "Commander," he addresses, paying no attention to the civilian bleeding in the main area in front of him.

Cassius turns to him. "Sergeant."

"The operation, sir. We head out in fifteen minutes."

"And I haven't forgotten. Thank you very much," Cassius replies. The solider exits without another word and Cassius kneels down next to me again, his hat once again obscuring his face.

"But, before I depart, Jin, it would be remiss of me not to give you what you came for."

"You're...still going to..." I can get myself to finish that thought, either out of physical or mental shock. Possibly both.

"I've always been a man of my word. And I see no reason to deny you the cause of your parents' deaths."

I don't like the way he says that. "What..what do you...?"

"Tell me, Jin. When news first arrived that your parents were killed, did they say how?" he consolingly asks. "And you can be honest. No reason to lie now."

I take a shaky breath in. "They said...it was a scouting party," I answer. "Royal Army..."

I think his eyebrow jumps in response. "Intriguing," he notes. "The story wasn't as skewed as I initially thought."

"What...what are you talking about?"

"I'm confirming the report is all. Yes, your parents did die at the army's hands."

The rest of the blood in my body freezes over as I glare back up at Cassius. "You...knew about this?" I quietly shout.

A slight, sinister laugh is the response, and Cassius puts an unsettling, demeaning hand onto my shoulder. His face is still neutral, but I swear, somewhere, underneath that blank, emotionless visage he always wore, I swear I see him _smirking_ at me.

"My dear boy," he whispers back to me. "Not only did I know about the caravan, I lead the party that found it."

His head shifts up slightly, and the torchlight barely sneaks in underneath his hat, unveiling the cruelest stare I've ever seen.

"And your parents indeed fell to my blade that day."

Whatever little air I've scraped together into my lungs immediately falls away.

_He killed my parents?_ I glance back up at his face, trying to sneak a peek underneath that hat, hoping, desperately hoping that he's lying.

My heart sinks.

I don't think he is.

"Your parents were remarkably loving people. Commendably, even," he continues to lecture. "And not just to you and your sister either. They actively went out of their way to defend a race beyond salvation. One that is nothing more but a blight, a disease on this land that must be extinguished. Their loyalty and sacrifice, I must admit, is admirable to say the least.

"But that doesn't alter the fact that they were in direct violation of a Royal decree that day. And they knew full well what the consequences would be. They died not because they were supporting our enemy. They died because they were caught doing so. And they paid the price.

"Which brings us here. Though I will have to give you some credit, as you made a rather good effort trying to run me in circles, hoping I'd just give up once I'd start to think I'm wasting my time. However, just like your parents, you've been caught. You, your sister, your friends, everybody. And now it's time to serve the sentence."

_What are you just lying here for? Do something!_ Except everything is refusing me. The remnants of my sword are still in my hand, and I'm gripping it as hard as it will allow me, but my body can't find the energy to swing it. I'm searching for something, _anything_ I can do to retaliate. But there's nothing. Not within my limits right now.

I start to despair. I'm the only person who can stop if not delay Cassius right now, but, as much as I hate to admit it, I can't. All I can do is just stare at the fragment of sword and pray something happens.

Another soldier barges in. "Commander, ten minutes!"

"I'm coming, Sergeant. Fear not," comes the reply. He stands up to walk away, but stops himself and turns back to me. "Oh, actually, I need to get this resolved first."

"You're going to kill him, sir?"

I grunt and struggle to leer back up at the commander. He mirrors the stare perfectly.

"No, not yet at least."

"Sir?" the soldier asks back, just as surprised as I am. _You're not serious. You can't keep me alive._ Not insinuating death is a likable alternative, but after everything he just told me?

"I think you heard me quite clearly the first time. Where can we keep him?"

The soldier shudders. "Uh, there might be some room in the barracks that we can..."

"Good enough," he replies as he yanks out his sword once more. I cringe, anticipating the cold steel strike to rain in at any moment now.

"Goodbye for now, Jin," Cassius says, and instead of the cut of the blade, I instead feel the forceful impact of a boot, stamping itself on the center of my forehead.

* * *

Another Note From the Author

Hello once more! If this chapter looks shorter than usual, you're not going insane. Because it is. As you may have guessed, the finale is on its way, and to keep it from being overly long, I thought this would be a decent cut off point for the time being. I don't want the story to go too long without an update either, and seeing as how the final chapter is on its way, I want to make sure it gets the attention and care it needs to conclude the story properly.

Long story short: yes, this is a short chapter. Yes, I intend to make the final one a bit longer to compensate you for your patience. And yes, you definitely should follow me so you don't wait any longer than you have to for the conclusion to Before the Storm!

Thanks for your support, and see you all next week!

WS


	11. To Dust

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Chapter 11

To Dust

"Jin! Come on, Jin. Wake up!"

I'm beyond groggy. My eyes downright refuse to open, and when they finally do, they do everything in their power to pretend they're still sleeping. Everything's a grey and dark blue blur, except for a small blotch of orange and white grappling the collar of my shirt and shaking it rigorously.

"What happened to you?" it demands as it bats my face with a small, furred paw. "Get up, Jin!"

I blink twice, and my vision finally starts to focus up. "F..Fidget?"

Her eyes light up and she immediately jumps onto my neck, hugging it with both of her front paws. "Don't do that to me again, you big dumb...dumb...dummy dumb-dumb!" she scolds me, her face buried into my shirt.

I'd reach over to pet her a bit, but my arms are stuck above and behind my head. I lean back a bit and notice my wrists are tied off to what looks like a vacated bunk bed. I'm in a tent again, much larger and far less decorated than Cassius'. Likely the rest of the division's living space. The entire tent is dark, but some faint illumination from outside, probably the moon sneaking a few rays past the otherwise impenetrable cloud cover, provides just enough light to see the surroundings.

"How did you find me here?" I ask the nimbat as she hovers over to the bunk. I start to feel the rope binding me gain a little bit of slack.

"I'd ask you the same thing!" she bats the back of my head.

"I asked you first."

"And _I_ rescued you first."

"Fidget..."

"Nope!" she argues. "Standard rescuing procedures, buddy! You tell me why I'm untying you from a bunk bed before I tell you how I found you."

"I'm certain that isn't a thing."

"C'mon. Cough it up."

I need a second. For some reason I can't bring myself around to say his name. "That...bastard tricked me, Fidget."

"What?"

"He told me he wanted to solve my parents' murder. And then he gets called out of the tent, and I find out he got his evidence, and it just went to crap from there."

"How did he do that?" Fidget asks as my arms are finally liberated and fall to my sides.

I just look down at my hands. I can't even begin to explain. How Marcia was coerced into helping him. How he didn't hold up his end of the deal.

How she finally met her end...

Fidget flutters around to my front again and sits down on my shoulder for a second. "It's okay. If you don't want to tell me, I mean."

I yield anyways. "Marcia's cousin was taken ransom for evidence on a job I took. She didn't have a choice. Cassius got the receipt and..."

She blinks curiously but fortunately doesn't probe the issue any further. "Did you at least find out about them? What happened to your parents?"

The question alone almost makes me lose it, and I take a staggered breath in out of reflex. "It was him," I softly reply, choking the words out with hesitance. "Cassius killed them, Fidget."

She puts her paws over her mouth. "Oh, Jin..."

I can feel my breathing get heavier by the second. "And I couldn't do anything. I thought I could avenge them. Cassius was right in range of my sword, and..."

My throat performs some strange hybrid of clearing itself and swallowing. "He...just beat me. And I can't do anything to stop him now."

I feel my head involuntarily droop. I'm free, but far from liberated. He won. He got me. And now everything I've worked for, everything everyone's worked for, is finished. I feel my mind starting to loop, begging the same question over and over again: that I could have stopped this. That I could have done something differently.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Jin," Fidget's voice softly speaks up.

I can't even get myself to turn to her now. My head feels heavy enough to indent the floor if I fall over.

"Jin? You heard me, right?"

I heard her. But I'm not sure if I listened at all.

A soft punch hits the lower part of my jaw, and I whirl around, glaring at Fidget. Only she's leering back at me as well, teeth bared and eyes shimmering as they start to well up a bit.

"Stop blaming yourself for things you didn't do, you lug!" she shouts at me. "You can't control what anybody does except yourself, so why do you keep taking responsibility for them?"

"I never said..." is as far as my defense goes before the nimbat interrupts me again.

"It isn't your fault Marcia got blackmailed, it isn't your fault your town got occupied, and it _really_ isn't your fault you lost your parents!"

She grabs my shirt again and yanks it towards her. "You're too nice and too brave to do those horrible things, so stop telling yourself you had a part in them, because you didn't!"

She leers at me one more time, then pounces onto my neck again. "You had nothing to do with it, okay? And there isn't anything you can do in the past to fix it. Please..."

She shuts her eyes and squeezes me more. I just stare at the nimbat as she lies down on my shoulder, refusing to let me go. A couple seconds pass, and then I involuntarily sigh and put a hand onto her back and gently stroke her.

"Fidget..." I start to say, then stop myself for a second.

"You're good, Jin. You're a good friend, you're a good brother, and you're...just a good person."

We sit there in silence for a few more seconds.

"Jin?" Fidget finally asks again.

"What's up?"

She pauses for a second, and then rolls herself over onto her back, paws in the air. "If...you don't have a problem with it."

I laugh a bit as I put my hand to her belly and start scratching it gently. I see her smile slightly as her back foot starts rapidly shaking up and down. Frankly I don't care if anyone walks in on us. If they notice I broke free and threaten to kill me.

I needed to hear that.

"Alright, now it's your turn," I remind her as I stand up and rotate my arms, checking to see if they were hurt while I was out. It doesn't feel like they were.

Fidget's a bit startled that I stood up without telling her first, but she quickly recovers and starts hovering next to me again. "My turn for what?" she asks. "To give you a back scratch?"

"To tell me how you found me, Fidget," I reply after rolling my eyes. _Though to her credit, that doesn't sound bad either._

"Oh, yeah!" Fidget immediately interjects. "I was at Nikolai's house helping him close up for the evening a few minutes ago, right? We're just about finished, and then we see the army patrol in from out the window."

Already I don't like the way this story is going. "What are they doing?"

"I'm...not sure," Fidget sheepishly replies. "But a couple minutes later I'm in the kitchen for a snack. Nik's in the other room, and then the door's kicked in and someone starts asking him if he's seen you at all."

Somehow I completely forgot about Ginger. "Was it my sister?"

"Maybe. But I heard that last she heard from you, you were coming down here, and you should have been back a while ago. She sounded really worried, too. So I took initiative, went out the window to look for you, and _voilà_, here were are!"

I think that's what she said, at least. My mind isn't paying any particular attention to what she's saying right now. The army just marched into Zeplich again, and Ginger's all alone at the house. I don't like that. Especially considering...

A dark thought creeps into my mind, sinisterly but swiftly, like a bite from a viper. The operation Cassius was talking about before he put me out. Is this the plan? Is he going to destroy the village? No, no he couldn't. That's completely unlike him. It's too audacious. News would spread across Falana faster than he'd be able to explain it away. It'd only hurt him in the long run.

Wouldn't it?

The thought alone, though, is enough for me start marching out of the tent. Even if it didn't make sense, even if I'm not sure he'd do something like this without some sort of cover, I'm not going to put her in danger.

I brush right past Fidget and almost spin her out. "Hey, hey! Where you going?"

"How long did it take you to find me?" I demand as I start to make towards the barracks' exit.

"Um, not too long, really," she vaguely answers. "Twenty minutes, maybe? Jin, what's going on?"

"I think Cassius is going to attack the village, Fidget," I tell her as I peer out into the main plaza of the camp. There's nobody around that I can see or hear. Cassius probably went all hands for this march. And for good reason.

"That's what they were there for?" Fidget replies, with audible shock in her voice.

"We need to go," I inform her as I rush out of the tent. "Everyone's in danger right now."

"Jin, wait up!" the nimbat calls after me. Even though urgency is pushing me forward, I somehow manage to get my body to stop itself and wait just long enough for Fidget to flutter out of the tent, carrying something in her hands.

"I found this knife next to you. Do you want it?" she tells me as she drops it into my hands. Except it isn't a knife; the hilt and jagged cut on the blade are evidence enough that this used to be my sword.

"It's not a knife, Fidget. It's..." But I can't bring myself to finish that correction. I feel like a piece of me was lost when Cassius sliced the sword in half. Even if I haven't owned it for much more than a week, there was something special about it. Just seeing it in tatters like this is...depressing, at the lack of a better word.

But it obviously isn't done yet. Wounded, but still fighting. I grip the hilt again, determinedly, and slip it between my belt and my pants. "Thanks, Fidget," I quietly, contemplatively reply.

She gives a brief smile back before zipping ahead of me, towards the trail to the village. A small raindrop falls onto my nose, and I slowly glance upward. Above me, a massive squall of storm clouds are gathering. The air feels a slight bit chillier than it did a few moments ago, and there's a small breeze abounding the camp that I didn't feel when I first arrived.

"Jin! Are we going to save the town or what?"

Another drop smacks me in the eye, and I take that as the queue to look back at Fidget and start running back towards my home.

* * *

Somehow, the trail feels longer than I remember it. I feel like I'm running through a tunnel. I know where the exit is. I know how to get there. And I'm trying to get there as fast as I can. But each step forward feels like two steps backward, and the trail just seems to lengthen itself more and more and more, almost out of spite. My legs are on the verge of just sputtering out like a faulty piece of machinery, and I've run out of breath at least a half-mile ago. No question about it, between the ruggedness of the trail, the gigantic slash across my chest, and the near hurricane bearing down on me and Fidget at the moment, my body is all but ready to give up.

I have to stop. I place my hands on my knees and try my best to take slow, deep breaths. The deep part isn't as much of a problem as the slow part is, and I'm out of ideas to fix that.

I watch Fidget as she swoops past me, then immediately doubles back and comes to my side. "Jin!" she coaxes me, tugging on my jacket again. "We can't be that far out now!"

"Says you," I pant back with frustration. "You haven't...had to walk...a single bit."

"Hey, flying takes more energy than you think!" she barks as she jumps onto my back and points a paw off to the side of my head. "Now onward! Mush! Yip..." She's interrupted by a sudden coughing fit, and I feel the back of my shirt collar jump up as she buries her face into it.

"Fidget, if you give me a cold..." I start to growl as I force my body to take another shaky step down the muddy path. A flash of lightning lights up the forest backdrop for a brief second as my foot comes down.

"I'm not sick," she grumbles. "But something smells. Really, really bad."

_Funny, apart from the rain I'm not getting anything._ "I don't follow."

"Well, get back to me once you have my sense of smell and tell me that you don't smell that smoky stench from over the ridge!"

My breath immediately escapes me. Another sharp, penetrating thought hits me like a crossbow bolt. "Oh, no..."

"Jin? Are you..."

"We need to go!" I yell at the nimbat. I'm not sure what comes over me, but suddenly my body's running at full sprint, like whatever exhaustion I was experiencing just before evaporated. I'm now rushing along the mud path, with Fidget's paws clamped onto my jacket, probably in an attempt to keep up with me from her current position.

All the while, I keep mentally repeating the same sentence to myself. I want to be wrong. I want to be so wrong Ginger makes fun of me for it for the rest of my life.

_He wouldn't have. There isn't a reason for him to._ But he's proved me wrong before.

_Don't. Please don't. I don't want to..._

And as I finally reach the end of the path, all I can do is stare. Just stare at the source of Fidget's coughing spasm. At the dank, disgusting smoke blowing right in front of my eyes.

At the raging inferno that is engulfing my town. The conflagration has devoured everything; I can't see one building that isn't being turned to cinders before me.

And on the ground, littered across the streets like sheets of wastepaper, I can see bodies. They've been cut. Stabbed. Eviscerated. Executed.

My knees finally give. I splash into the cold mud, helpless to do anything but just gawk at the spectacle, and the sheer destruction that came with it.

"Dammit..." I whisper.

I feel a tear sneak out of my eye and splash onto the ground.

I slam a fist into the mud.

"DAMMIT!"

The thunder booms back at me.

My head falls onto my arms. I'm not even trying to hide my emotions. I don't care. I just lay there for now.

I feel the weight of Fidget move around on my back. She's not going to say anything.

Whatever I have left to care for is gone. Nikolai, Marcia...

My head snaps back up, and through the orange haze of the smoke and the blur of the tears I force myself back onto my feet and start sprinting towards the flames.

"Ginger!" I yell into it. _She has to be alive. She _has _to._

"Jin! Wait!" Fidget calls after me, flapping her wings as hard as she can manage.

I viciously whirl around and glare at the nimbat as she promptly brings herself to a hover. "Fidget, scout around the area! Maybe she got out with someone else!"

"But I..."

"Don't argue! I have to make sure she's alright!"

"Where would she have gone?"

"I don't know, just look for her! Meet me back on the trail in an hour. Got it?"

She looks at me with uncertainty for a few moments. She's hesitating, and I can't tell if she's doing it on purpose or not.

She zips over to me and hugs my neck again. "Please be safe, Jin," she softly responds before momentarily staring up at me with those deep green eyes of hers then flying away as fast as she can into the foggy storm before me.

I don't linger, and instead turn into the blowing rain, the blinding smoke, the blazing heat. I have to put a hand up to keep my eyes clear.

"Ginger!"

I cough into my elbow as the brown-grey vapors start to clog up my lungs. The heat is a nice reprieve from the bone-chilling cold that is the rain, but only marginally.

"Ginger!"

I think I'm on the main street. Without the familiarity of my surroundings it's impossible to tell.

The charred outline of a two-story building fades in from my right, with a slowly crumbling chimney on the roof and an exploded bellows off to the side.

_That's Nik's forge!_

My legs are practically begging me to stop. I refuse to give them a break. Not now. Frantically, I sprint further down the street, praying she's okay.

_Not like this. I've lost too much family like this._

"GINGER!" I wail again. Suddenly my foot catches on a rock and I helplessly tumble onto the street, sliding for a few feet in the mud before I skid to a halt.

For a moment, I just want to lie in the mud. Let the village burn me along with everyone else. Just let the flames wash over me like a wave on a beach.

Ginger is gone. I don't want to admit to myself that she is. But she's probably gone.

Weakly, I barely lift my head up from the grey mess I wallow in. There's another house burning on my right. I know whose it is just from the crackling architecture, the collapsing design.

It's my home.

My vision blurs up again. I blink forcefully to clear it, and I stagger back onto my feet again. Physically, I can't think of one good reason Ginger should still be in there. _How_ she could still be in there. But for some reason I keep telling myself to check. I wheeze for air as my legs struggle and buckle under my weight, and force myself forward, one slow, almost painful step at a time.

I don't take more than two before the front of the house finally gives in to the weakened structure and falls onto itself. The front door is now blockaded, and once more my spirit falls apart.

_She's gone, Jin. You can't do anything about it now._

"Hey," comes a voice from behind the house. My mind keeps telling me it's Ginger's, except it's definitely male.

The voice is extremely weak, and it's only after a good amount of focus that I can hear the next call. "Hey, Jin...that you?"

I dash around the burning house and round the corner haphazardly, skidding as I reach the backside. There _is_ someone there, lying down in the moist dirt, slowly and desperately crawling away to the forest.

And I recognize the form and the armor it's wearing immediately. "Fuse!" I exclaim, then cough immediately after a strong inhale of smoke.

I start to run up to him, but as he looks up at me I almost collapse again. His face is burnt. Horribly. Whatever familiarity I remembered with his features is completely stripped, ripped away with the multiple burn scars mangling his face and whatever areas of his body the armor did not cover. I'm certain the voice is his, however. As much as I can't believe it's Fuse just by looking at him.

"Jin..." he rasps, reaching an arm out to me. Promptly, I grab it and start dragging the Moonblood into the forest. I don't take him far, just back enough to ensure the fire doesn't spread over to us, and that there's clear air for us to finally breathe. The village fire is still burning fiercely behind us, and I don't dare look back at it now.

"What are you doing here?" I demand as I set him down against the base of a tree.

"The camp..." Fuse whispers back. The burn scars are keeping him from speaking too loudly. I can't begin to imagine what he's feeling right now.

"The camp...is gone," he says.

My gaze narrows. "What do you mean, it's gone, Fuse?"

"Cassius..." He has to pause for the most unstable breath in I've heard. "Cassius assaulted us...full ambush."

"What happened to everyone?"

"Elders escaped...Sereth got out too I think. Twitch...had to stay behind..."

I think I know what that means, but I ask anyways. "Did anyone..."

I can see him grimace and shake his head no. "I...saw the bastards march towards your village next. I...I tried to stop them, but their numbers were too great."

"Did you see anybody get out? Where's my sister?" I quickly demand, like he would know.

"I'd tell you if I knew, brother," he wheezes back. "I...I'm so sorry, Jin. So sorry..."

No. I'm done feeling sorrow. I'm done feeling regret. I'm done feeling sentiment. Whatever shards of those feelings I had before have been burned away, along with everything I had and held dear.

And there is exactly one man responsible for making me like this. And I want justice more than anything else. For my friends. For my parents.

For Ginger.

"Did you see where Cassius went?" I solemnly ask the Moonblood.

Fuse eyes me suspiciously as I ask that, like I might be having a lapse in sanity.

He notices after a second I'm not. "I think...he retreated south. There's a...clearing there. May be regrouping his men."

I look over my shoulder at the direction. The rain sweeps into my face again, but I know exactly what he's talking about. "Alright. But what about you? You need to be moved."

"I...have a solution," he slowly responds. Weakly, I see him raise his arm to the sky, the one with the fire-stamped bracer on it. Suddenly, his arm recoils as a bright green light shoots out of the bracer and soars into the sky, hanging there like a lantern, a single light trying to protest the darkness around it.

"They will find me," he gravelly whispers as I stand up from him. It's a signal. Whoever survived the attack on his camp will know who put it up.

I start to turn to the south and march towards the clearing, but Fuse's rough hand jumps to my wrist before I can go anywhere.

I turn back to him, leering at him. He replies with his own, the eyes broken but far from failing.

"Now you...find him."

* * *

The clouds flash again, twice in quick succession, as I slowly pace into the clearing. It's completely vacated. No signs of the Royal Army or their leader. Just one large, open patch of grass in the middle of the forest. Completely devoid of any life.

I draw the fragment of my sword out from my belt. The slick sound of the steel rubbing against the leather reverberates along with the rolling thunder in the distance. I refuse to let myself believe Fuse would be wrong about this.

I know he's here. Somewhere.

"Cassius!" I call for him, furiously.

The grumbling thunder is my only reply.

I feel the raindrops roll off of my hair and hear them splash onto the grass beneath me.

"Cassius!" I shout again. "Where are you?"

Another flash of lightning.

_The coward's hiding._

I stomp into the center of the clearing.

"_Where are you, you son of a..._"

The rambunctious thunder booms over my voice as I yell that, and I'm forced to yield to its superiority. He heard me, though. He knows what I'm here for.

The thunder quiets itself again.

Then comes the static. Not from the lightning. But from behind me it sounds like. It's an electric sound, and I quickly whirl around, semi-hoping that it's only some weird thunderous echo.

No. The electricity I hear is coming from the ground. It's arcing off the grass, sizzling and crackling with every slender blue bolt it emits.

Then it dies for a second.

And I take a sharp breath in.

Cassius fades into view in front of me, charging, his sword raised for a strike.

Reflex pushes my blade into its path. Whatever attack he was about to deliver, parried away. I'm not sure how I avoided that, and I don't know when I learned it.

Instinct takes over again as I take the initiative and use the riposte to swing at him myself. My weapon has no reach, but I swing it anyways, hoping to do something to defend myself. _Any_ sort of counter would work for me now.

I shut my eyes. Nikolai would have my neck for doing something like that, but I do it anyways.

The sounds that followed: a small _clang_, like someone threw a rock at a metal box, then the sharp snap and crackle of electricity, then Cassius' snarling as I hear him take a few steps backward.

Both of us are short of breath, and I slowly open my eyes back up as I put myself onto a knee to recuperate. A few feet in front of me, Cassius has removed a small circuit box from the front of his chest, near the shoulder, and is inspecting it carefully, meticulously.

I hear him sigh after a second as he tosses the circuit off to the side of the clearing. "Worthless," he flatly comments.

He swings his blade around in the rain a bit. "Though I'll give you credit. You not only saw past the cloaking field but also destroyed the mechanism powering it. Nicely done."

I glare at him. "Why did you leave me alive?"

He lifts his head a bit, probably to look at me better from under his hat. The rain runs down it in small rivulets and splatters onto the blade. "You must mean that little incident at my camp."

I don't answer him. He doesn't move. For a second, only the whistling wind and rain are making any noise in the forest now.

"I've always been a man of my word, Jin. You know this for a fact."

"You're a liar," I growl at him.

"When I killed your parents that night, their deaths did not come swiftly. They were lying against that cart they were transporting that day, on their last breath as my team searched their belongings.

"They had but seconds to live, but they called me over to them. They were ready to accept their fates. Even if I had turned my medics to them they could not have been saved. But they did not ask me for their lives. They did not want mercy or anything of the sort. They wanted safety. Not for them. But for you."

Another lightning bolt rattles across the sky, and it feels like one penetrates my brain as well. My eyes fall to the ground. I start to hallucinate my parents, downed, ready to pass to the Life Thread... I tightly shut my eyes. I don't want to think about them.

"They begged me that, no matter what may come to pass after, you and your sister would not be harmed. One final request for me, their killer."

He peers down at his hand for a second. "How could I deny them that? I leave you alive, Jin, because I don't intend to breach that promise. This, my friend, is how I show compassion."

"_How would you know?!_" I wildly interject. Cassius' attention turns back to me, like I'm a triviality.

My breathing has gone heavy, and my eyes feel like they're ready to shoot fire. "You...you're a killer. That's all you've done since you came here. You just take families and rip them to shreds. You don't care a bit about what happens after, as long as you're just following orders!"

I leer up at him, through his hat and directly into his eyes. "So why would you know the first thing about what compassion is?!"

I feel my eyes tearing up. Or it might be the rain. I put a sleeve to them anyways, and renew my glare at the commander. "You...you murderer! My parents did nothing wrong!"

There's a pause, then, just barely over the wild rain, I hear him sigh. "_You_ have been deceived, little one," comes the cold, heartless response. "Your parents turned against their king, an act of pure treason. What resistance there was, was led by your family alone. And both them, and all of their accomplices, were extinguished in turn."

_Guilty._

"You destroyed my town...murdered my friends and family..." I inhale awkwardly. More mental images flood my head. Nikolai. Marcia. The Moonbloods. Fidget. The parents.

"Even my sister..."

Cassius raises his head a bit. "I know nothing about..."

"_SHUT UP!_" My breathing becomes heavier still. "You will answer for what you've done to us! You will not survive this day!"

The whirling rain responds in his place once more, until I see him pull out the black cloth from his uniform and wipe his blade off with it in one slick, controlled motion. "I take no joy in slaughtering one as young as you, child," he finally speaks. "And I had every intention of leaving you and your sister alone."

He then tosses the cloth to the side and points the sword at me. "But you have forced my hand."

I glare furiously at him. He stoically glances at me. Both of us wait for the other to move first. Quickly, I try to compile something. Some sort of attack strategy. What did Nik...?

He doesn't permit me, and instead lunges at me, his sword under his arm, blade running parallel to his body.

Lateral slash.

Again, reflex yanks my arm upward. There's a clash of lightning and steel not an instant later, and I toss my opponent's attack upwards, over my head.

_You can't just flail at yer enemy, Jin. It's all in the timin'. Look for windows and make the most of 'em._

Between the reduced weight of my blade and the increased mobility Sereth's augment gave it, I try for a counter to his chest. I feel the recoil in the hilt as the blow connects, and I feel the commander's uniform tear underneath the sharp, jagged edge.

He staggers backwards a bit, pushing his off-hand to his chest, and I charge forward. Press the advantage. Keep the pressure. He can't attack me if he's always on the defensive.

I don't care that he's knocking away all of my blows by this point. I don't care that I haven't touched him at all since I first started attacking. As long as he can't get a return in. That's all that matters.

I try not to give him that chance. All my blows are short, not overextending to the point where any parries could open myself up. Just a flurry of quick, conservative blows. I'd have to outlast him.

He knocks away what must be the fifteenth one in a row if not more. I'm not going to give up. Not going to let him get back. Meanwhile, my mind starts to formulate what needs to happen next. Maybe, if I can keep him on his back foot, eventually, I'll open him up. At the rate he's blocking everything, he's sure to be exhausted at some...

A weight falls onto the arch of my foot, and I holler in pain. My arm inadvertently freezes in place, midway through the blow, as Cassius' heel digging into my foot overrides everything. I have to get him off me...

The backside of his empty hand slams my jawbone. My body reels to the right, still trying to cope with the physical onslaught. He's coming back. There has to...

Then I feel his blade sting me. He skewers me. My breathing goes unstable, and my eyes hesitantly peer down. My body has engulfed the blade, all the way to the hilt. I feel the tip of it probing the underside of my jacket.

The commander forces the blade more. The pain doesn't even register with my brain. The magnitude is simply too high for it to comprehend. I want to cry my pain, but my mouth won't let me. Instead it just rests agape. Stunned. Bloodied. Completely lost.

_How did this happen?_

He responds by slowly, methodically slipping the sword out of me. I watch the red-stained steel gradually work its way from my abdomen, and only when it's fully removed do I finally succumb to my wounds. I go to my knees, my lower arm tightly hugging the stab. It doesn't do much for the profuse bleeding.

I try telling my body to steady out. Calm. Relax. It does none of those things. It's too battered to carry on.

My head hangs. It's become too heavy for my neck.

My hands gradually open up. It's become too much work for them to hold anything.

I know I'm dying.

Cassius huffs, and I faintly hear the sound of his sword slip back into its sheath.

All I can see are his feet. They're facing me right now, and for the next few seconds they don't move at all. They finally turn around and start to walk away from me.

"Farewell. Jin."

_He's...getting away..._

I want to stop him. I'm not finished yet. But he knows I'm helpless...

Another flash of lightning.

Something reflects on the ground next to my hand. Weakly, I peer over at it...

The sword fragment.

I try to steady my breathing as much as I can. Enough to focus. Enough to concentrate.

I force my hand onto the hilt. I force it to grip it as tightly as I can manage.

I force my head to pull itself up. I force my eyes to focus on Cassius. His cape flutters in the rainstorm like a flag as he slowly continues to pace away.

I hear myself growl again. He won't get away. I won't let him.

I force my arm up and raise it over my shoulder. Shakily, it obeys.

I force my lungs to hold themselves for just one second. With uncertainty, they calm themselves momentarily.

The rain stings my eyes, but I refuse to take them off of Cassius. I feel the drowsiness come, that sweet black blanket of oblivion beckoning me closer and closer to the Life Thread.

_No. Not yet._

He takes one more step.

The blade flies out of my hand.

A perfectly silent moment passes.

Cassius howls as my sword buries itself into his back. He staggers, grimacing and snarling in pain as he clumsily turns himself around to face me.

He takes one stomp towards me. A second. He lifts his leg for a third, but doesn't complete it. He collapses. First to his knees, then his chest. The ground flips his hat off his head, and it rolls on its brim for a moment before finally falling over as well.

My breath finally returns, but not in any sort of good condition. My head snaps back down to the ground immediately.

I have just enough energy to move my arm off of where Cassius got me. It didn't help much. The discolored splotch on my shirt grows wider by the second.

My body wants rest. My eyes start to shut involuntarily, as the Life Thread continues to call my name.

_It's okay, Ginger. I'll be there soon,_ is my final thought as my world fades to black.


	12. Epilogue: Settling

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Before The Storm

Written by WildSnivy

Epilogue

Settling

Well, I think you know the rest of the story. Jin and Cassius died that night at the exact same time, and their souls intertwined with each other. An exceedingly rare occurrence, almost impossible. Over the next year, Gaius would continue to march across Falana, exterminating every Moonblood and sympathizer he could find.

By that point, the Moonbloods were almost extinct. And as a last resort, they ripped their souls out of the Life Thread and used them to create me. Their champion. The Sen-Mithrarin.

The warrior you know as Dust.

Fidget, I know this could not have been easy to read. I know you were very close to Jin, and I can't fathom how being reminded of his death can feel to you. I can't even begin to think about how Ginger's going to respond when she decides to pick this letter up either. But you both deserve the truth. And I hope I delivered.

You two are exceedingly special to me. Even with the two souls constantly warring inside me, I can feel Jin's presence shine through whenever I see you. I'll never be the friend or brother you lost that day. I'll never be able to live up to his standards, or replicate that personality you two adored so much. There's only one Jin, and I know I can't ever replace him. But it's because of him that I care for you as much as I do. And just as I'll never forget what you two mean to me, I know you'll remember me. As who I am, and who I was.

* * *

"Forever your friend, Dust," Fidget reads, gently peering over the top of the final paper at her friend. Off to her left, sitting at the table, blankly staring down at a cup of tea that has been sitting in her hand for the past fifteen minutes at least, is Ginger. She has been sitting there the entire afternoon, respectfully, attentively listening to the nimbat read the letter that had arrived just this morning.

And now, the sun is starting to take cover behind the forest glade to the west, the last few scattered beams for the day flushing out the town of Aurora in one last shower of yellow light. One of them has broken through the house's window, and is slowly creeping across the kitchen table towards Ginger.

Fidget sets the paper down on the stack in front of her and readjusts her posture on the table. Neither of them speak for a few moments, in silent reminiscence of their lost friend.

"What was he like?" Ginger finally asks. Her attention doesn't leave the teacup in front of her.

"He was..." Fidget goes quiet again, and Ginger finally turns her gaze away from her drink.

The nimbat speaks up after a second. "I think he was the best friend I ever had. I...knew for him for all of a day, maybe, but..."

Ginger offers up a faint smile. "Yeah. He did that a lot."

"You think, maybe, that's why I got along with Dust so well? Because bits and pieces of Jin were inside him?"

Ginger shrugs. "It's probably the same reason why I was scared of him when I first saw him. Cassius wore almost the same outfit he did that day."

Silence again. Broken only by a soft _splash_ as a tear impacts the saucer Ginger's cup is resting on.

"I miss him, Fidget."

Fidget slowly nods. The cup starts to rattle a bit.

"I miss him so much..." Ginger puts the back of her hand to her eye.

After a second, Fidget curls up a bit, hugging her lower legs with her paws. "Me too, Ginger," she softly replies. "Me too."

Nothing happens for the next few minutes, as the two friends don't do much more than sit at the table with the letter. Ginger occasionally asks Fidget to see one of the letter's pages, and Fidget casually peruses the text once more.

The front door is knocked on. Fidget's ears flip up and she peers over at Ginger. She hasn't fully recovered yet; the sun reflects and refracts across the small wet stream down her cheek.

"I'm on it," she offers as she flies off the table.

Ginger shoves her chair away and motions for the nimbat to sit down. "No, it's okay," she whispers back. "I can take care of it." Fidget reluctantly obeys, and watches Ginger slowly walk towards the door and undo the lock.

Ginger puts her hand on the knob, and waits for just a second before turning it and gently opening the door. At her porch stands a lanky, white-furred Warmblood, with grey eyes and a familiar green hooded shirt.

The visitor flicks the hood off of his head and offers a friendly, almost apologetic smile. Ginger recognizes him almost immediately, and puts a hand over her mouth.

"Evenin', lass," Nikolai warmly greets her. "This...ain't a bad time, is it?"

"Nik..." Ginger ekes out. "I..I thought..."

"I'm sorry I didn't catcha earlier than this," the blacksmith replies, itching the back of his neck. "Once Zeplich burnt, I had ta duck out up north in Arrowshead for a spell. Heard you'd set up shop here a while ago, but..."

He smiles sheepishly again. "Never really got 'round to it 'til now." He looks around for a second, up and down the street. "Mind me comin' in? I went and brought ya some dinner."

Ginger pushes the door open a bit more and turns to the side, permitting Nikolai to enter the house. Fidget peers over at him as well, and her eyes light up immediately.

"Nikolai!" she exuberantly yells as she zips over to the blacksmith and gloms onto his neck.

The blacksmith staggers backwards for a moment, like he'd been hit by a rock, but regains his balance almost as quickly as he lost it. "Good ta see you too, Fidget," he beams as he gently strokes the nimbat. "You been doin' aight?"

"Yep! Great!" she replies as she finally releases her former employer. "Ginger and I were...just reading something, was all."

"What about?" Nikolai asks as he flips his pack over his shoulder and sets it onto the table. The letter's pages float up for a second under the wind, and catch his eye.

With care, he picks up the top page and quickly scans it. Ginger watches his eyes jump back and forth, and his face become more and more curious with each line.

"This Dust fellow's a friend o' yers, I take it?" he inquires as he sets the paper back down and starts unloading his bag.

Ginger walks up to his side and helps him sort out the various paper containers he pulls out of the sack. "You...may have heard the news that Gaius' men are retreating from Everdawn Basin? That the war is close to over now?"

Nikolai glances at her, skepticism abound in the neutral grey eyes. "Yer kiddin' me..."

"Nope! I was there with him!" Fidget chimes in as she flutters over to the packages, sniffing the rightmost one analytically.

Stunned, the blacksmith collapses into the chair at the head of the table. "What happened up there, lass? 'Cause from the sound o' things, yer tellin' me that..."

"He defeated Gaius there, yes," Ginger confirms as she checks the bag for any wayward contents. "Single-handedly, too."

"Hey!"

Ginger genuinely smiles for the first time today. "And you too, Fidget."

Nikolai gazes back over at Ginger as she retreats for some plates. "Then, what's he gotta do with yer brother?"

She doesn't move for a second, and just stares at the cupboard.

The blacksmith blinks and starts to correct himself. "I-I mean, sorry if ya don't wanna talk 'bout him. I...heard about what happened to him."

The house falls into another silent spell, save for the soft rattling of ceramic as Ginger slides some plates out of the cupboard.

"Ginger?" the nimbat addresses.

Ginger sets the three plates down at the table and hesitantly, softly smiles at Nikolai. "Well, you remember Fuse's clan, right Nik?"

* * *

Nikolai puts a napkin to his mouth and sets it down on the now empty plate in front of him. He also puts a hand to the side of his head and starts vigorously rubbing it. "So...they used the combined souls of that bastard and yer brother ta create him, eh?"

Ginger slightly nods over the sound of Fidget happily crunching away on one of the bratwursts Nikolai brought over. "It's a bit of a tall tale, I know, but..."

Nikolai's eyebrows jump up immediately. "Ach, Miss Ginger, I don't think ya'd tell me this story if it weren't the truth. The elders know a hundred and fifteen times more than I ever will. I believe in 'em."

"Dust isn't my brother, Nik," Ginger adds after a small delay. "He isn't Jin, and he isn't Cassius. But whenever I see him... I don't know..."

Nikolai takes a small sip of coffee before he says anything back. "Lass, I never got the chance ta say this 'til now. Yer brother was...no, _is_, one o' the damn bravest men I know."

Ginger exhales heavily. Her head droops.

"Ya know, when he first came to the forge and asked me ta train him, I thought he was right mad. But I knew he was askin' for the right reasons. Look, he may have thought you dead that night, and I can't hold him ta blame for thinkin' that. But he fought to the death for you."

He puts a hand to her shoulder. "Ginger, I think it's a safe bet ta say he loved you more than anythin' else in the world. And I'd say that's why you feel so happy around Dust. Yer right. By definition, he's not yer brother. But he reminds you of him. And you see him living on inside of Dust. He isn't Jin, but as a sister, you love him all the same, because he comes that damn close to it."

Fidget finishes chewing her dinner.

Nikolai removes his hand and takes another swig of coffee.

Ginger takes a dangerously unsteady breath. She puts a hand to her eyes, trying to mask as much of her face as she can.

The nimbat hovers over to her friend, and perches on her shoulder. "Ginger? You okay?"

She shakily breathes again and tightly shuts her eyes, her hand hiding the tear gently rolling out of the corner.

Outside, through the window, the sun finishes descending behind the forest.

* * *

Acknowledgements and Final Thoughts

As I finish this story, I'd like to take a quick moment to say thank you to some very, very important people to the creation and progress of this story.

Firstly, and arguably most importantly, I need to address the contributions of First Hero of Olympus. If you ever saw the review page for this story, go take a look at it and you'll see why I need to say thank you to her. I cannot imagine this story being nearly as well-written or polished without her feedback. So Hero, thank you so, so much. You were nothing short of vital to this story's successes.

Another one of my followers, COSDad, has been giving me a lot of private advice as well via PM, so I'd like to give him an online round of applause as well. His profile is currently blank, but he played a pretty big role in the story's development, and that can't go without credit.

And finally, I need to say thank you to you guys for reading this story! And it sounds like you've been enjoying it a lot as well, seeing as how we're creeping up on 1000 views and the story isn't even 3 months old yet. You guys are not numbers to me, and I credit a lot of this story's worth to the fact that you guys are simply a fantastic audience to write for.

If you're interested in reading more of my work, then my second story is a full-length story for the webcomic TwoKinds. You can find it at Fanfiction under the name TwoKinds: Redemption.

Please let me know if there are any major edits you guys would like to see, and thanks for a wonderful trip!

Cheers,

WS


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